One out of every 4 Ashkenazim carries a genetic change that reduces the risk of getting Parkinson's

Researchers at the Tel Aviv Medical Center have identified genetic changes that protect against Parkinson's disease. Prof. Avi Or-Ortergar: "People who carry these genetic changes have up to 10 times less risk of getting the disease"

Researchers at the Tel Aviv Medical Center have identified genetic changes that protect their subjects from Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a chronic degenerative disease of the brain that affects about 2% of the adult population. In recent years, extensive research has been carried out at the Genetic Institute and the Neurological Department at the Tel Aviv Medical Center with the aim of identifying the genetic causes of the disease and enabling better treatment and prevention. So far, mutations have been identified in several genes that increase the risk of getting Parkinson's. These mutations are present in about a third of the patients and in 8% of the healthy population of Ashkenazi origin.

In a new study published last Monday in the prestigious journal Archives of Neurology, the researchers showed for the first time that in the Ashkenazi population there are also genetic factors that protect against Parkinson's disease. The study was carried out on approximately 1,360 patients and healthy people, led by Prof. Avi Or-Orterger, director of the genetic institute, as part of Ziv Gan-Or's doctoral thesis, and in collaboration with Prof. Nir Giladi, director of the neurology department, and their teams. The results of the study showed that in the area known as PARK16 located on chromosome 1, there are several genetic changes that reduce the risk of getting Parkinson's approximately 1.5 times, similar to previous findings published in populations from Japan, Europe and China. It was found that one out of every 4 Ashkenazim carries at least one such change which reduces his chance of getting sick. In contrast, the researchers proved that one out of every 70 Ashkenazi people has a combination of genetic changes that reduces the risk of Parkinson's by up to 10 times.

According to Prof. Avi Or-Orterger "We hope that the results of the studies will lead to the identification of the genetic factors that provide high protection against Parkinson's disease, and possibly also against other degenerative diseases of the brain. It is also possible that this discovery will enable the development of additional treatments for Parkinson's disease and perhaps also contribute to its prevention."