New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) Researchers in Australia have found that Parkinson's disease causes significant and progressive changes in the brain's blood vessels, changing the understanding of the disease.

While Parkinson's disease is characterised by alpha-synuclein protein deposits, the research demonstrated that region-specific changes to blood vessels in the brain underlie disease progression, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Traditionally, Parkinson's researchers have focused on protein accumulation and neuronal loss, but we have shown the impacts on our cerebrovasculature -- the blood vessels in our brain," said Derya Dik, postdoctoral student at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA).

"Our research identified region-specific changes in the brain's blood vessels, including an increased presence of string vessels, which are non-functional remnants of capillaries," Dik added.

NeuRA researchers, in collaboration with the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney, also observed changes relating to how blood flows in the brain and how the blood-brain barrier operates.

The findings, published in the journal Brain, may also help open up new treatment avenues.

Researchers believe that targeting these progressive, region-specific changes may be able to slow disease progression and improve outcomes for patients suffering from Parkinson's disease.

In addition to exploring what these findings mean for people with Parkinson's disease, the researchers are considering impacts for other neurodegenerative disorders.

"We are now investigating whether similar cerebrovascular changes are present in post-mortem brain tissue from individuals with Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies tissue," Dik said.

"This study may lead to new treatment options for people with Parkinson's disease, but we also want to better understand the contribution of vascular pathology in these other neurodegenerative disorders and explore whether this can reveal new targets for therapies and treatments for people with those conditions also," the researcher said.

--IANS

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