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U of I researcher to study pesticides and Parkinson's
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by Erin Jordan
Des Moines Register
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A University of Iowa pharmacy researcher had received a $1.5 million federal grant to study a possible link between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's Disease.
Jonathan Doorn, an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy's medicinal and natural products chemistry division, received the five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, the U of I reported today.
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Parkinson's Disease is a degenerative disease that affects more than 1 million Americans. There are no treatments to effectively halt or slow the disease's progression.
The disease is characterized as a loss or impairment of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, the U of I reported. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger, involved in the coordination of movement. The degeneration that occurs in Parkinson's Disease may involve a toxic metabolite, or biochemical byproduct, that comes from dopamine.
Doorn's grant will help him study how one pesticide -- dieldrin -- plays a role in the production of these dopamine-derived neurotoxins. The goal of the project is to find ways to interrupt the disease's progression or diagnose the disease sooner.
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