DBS Plus: An Experimental Treatment for Parkinson’s

Topic: Attend this presentation to learn about a new Parkinson’s treatment being studied at the UK HealthCare Brain Restoration Center that combines deep brain stimulation (DBS) with an experimental nerve-grafting procedure. In this combined approach, called DBS+, the surgeon transplants peripheral nerve tissue into an area of the brain where neurons are dying. The grafted cells are being tested for their ability to release chemicals believed to rejuvenate the brain’s weary dopamine-producing neurons.

Speakers: Craig van Horne, MD, PhD is the Virginia T. Barrow Endowed Chair at the University of Kentucky and a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine.

Ann Hanley is the Director of Development at the Center for Advanced Brain Restoration Technology at the University of Kentucky and founded the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund.

Lectures are held at Parkinson Voice Project and will be streamed live on our home page and Facebook page at 10:30am (CT).
A video of this lecture will be posted online by February 11, 2020.

Ryans Race to Raise Money for Parkinson’s Research

By Meredith Daugherty

In five days time, Tom Ryan of SF Bloodstock and his wife Katie will make the nearly 800-mile journey northward from Lexington, Kentucky to Rhinebeck, New York to compete in the Oct. 13 Fall Foliage half marathon. While for many runners the race is the final stepping stone before the New York City marathon, the Ryans will be running with a different goal in mind—one with the power to impact their local and nationwide communities long after they’ve crossed the finish line.

As longtime friends of Ann Hanley, wife of WinStar Farm general manager David Hanley, a recent invitation to a dinner at the home of the president of the University of Kentucky gave the Ryan’s new perspective on how to get the most out of their half marathon experience. Hanley, who was diagnosed with Parkinsons at 49, founded the Ann Hanley’ Parkinson’s Research Fund in 2016 to help underwrite the cost of continued research into the disease at UK’s Brain Restoration Center.

“The dinner was very inspiring and they talked a lot about the amazing research they’re doing at UK for Parkinsons,” said Katie Ryan. “Ann herself is both a patient and employed there so we were inspired. We thought, why not turn this run into something better?”

“I think we came home from dinner that night feeling that we needed to do something, and we can, so why should we sit on our laurels and not try to help Ann?” said Tom Ryan.

As a tribute and immediate way of contributing to the cause, each of the 13.1 miles run by the Ryan’s on Saturday will be completed to help raise money for the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund.

“There has been remarkable support from the local industry as well as the global industry,” said Tom Ryan. “I believe every sales company in the world has donated to this and so have most of the big farms here in Lexington. There have been lots of private donations as well so it’s lovely to see.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, Parkinson’s disease is defined as a degenerative and progressive nervous system disorder that damages and eventually destroys neurons in the brain causing tremors, rigid muscles, impaired posture and balance, slowed movements, changes in speech, and ultimately death.

While there is currently no cure for the disease, Hanley is the 60th recipient of an experimental surgery developed by Dr. Craig van Horne and Dr. Greg Gerhardt—fellow members of the BRC team—that involves the use of Schwann cells taken from the sural nerve in a Parkinsons patient’s leg to perform was is known as “deep brain stimulation therapy” or DPS. Injected into the brain, the nerve cells are meant to help improve brain function and slow the progression of the disease.

“As far as we understand with this project, there is no drug company backing the research because there is no drug involved. It’s a surgical procedure so it’s made funding especially difficult despite the promising results that they’ve shown,” said Katie Ryan.

“One thing to say about the Thoroughbred industry, for all of her flaws, is that when there is someone in need within the industry that is reaching out, the game is great,” said Tom Ryan. “Everyone comes together and they really lend their support.

“Our goal started out at $20,000 and four hours later I called Katie and said, ‘You need to change it to $30,000’. The next day I said we needed to change it to $50,000. We’ve raised over $75,000 and hopefully with a push in the next 10 days we might eclipse $100,000. It’s really been remarkable and the momentum it has gathered has been wonderful. That will make a big difference in someone’s life down the road. The sky is the limit.”

Training steadily in anticipation of Saturday’s race, the Ryans said they are motivated to up their game in the hope of achieving extra donations based on their finish times.

“I’d like to add that this is the hilliest half-marathon on the calendar,” joked Tom Ryan. “We’ve trained sufficiently to get around there, but there are some incentives. One, if we both complete the race; two, if we complete it within two hours; and three, if we knock it out in a hour and 52 minutes there are further donations to come. So it’s great to see people getting involved with it in a fun way. The harder we try, the bigger the results for the foundation.”

While Saturday’s finish line will mark the end for the Ryan’s initial fundraising efforts, the race for a cure to Parkinson’s disease—and for a better quality of life for all those affected—is one the couple encourages everyone to keep running.

“Our goal is to keep on fundraising,” said Tom Ryan. “There is no stop date on this and there shouldn’t be. This is something everyone should be mindful of. It’s a disease that doesn’t have a cure and one that could affect anyone of us. No one is immune.

“The outpouring of support for this has been extraordinary. To do this is an amazing feeling. We can get up and run a race and create awareness and we’re glad to be able to do it.”

Originally published on BloodHorse.com

Run for Ann Hanley-Parkinson’s Research

By Tom Ryan

Editor’s Note: Tom and Katie Ryan are running in the October 13 Fall Foliage Half Marathon in Rhinebeck, New York to raise money for the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund. Hanley, the wife of WinStar’s General Manager David Hanley, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 49, and has founded the fund to underwrite research at UK. Learn more by watching the video below, or click on the link to contribute to Tom and Katie’s run.

According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, there are more than 10 million people worldwide living with Parkinson’s: 10 million people who will face this devastating disease knowing there currently is no cure. Ann and David Hanley are two of the strongest, most resilient people you might ever meet. Ann is a true hero who inspires others with this debilitating disease as she deals with the onset herself. She is a pioneer for a cure and has participated in a first-of-its-kind clinical study aimed at stopping the disease by reversing the degenerative effects of Parkinson’s. It’s truly ground-breaking science, allowing patients to turn back the clock and reverse symptoms of the disease. Ann has hope for herself and the 10 million others who suffer every single day. We hope we can rally the horse business to support one of our own. We all know someone affected and the horse business is wonderful when it comes to looking after its own.

To support Tom and Katie’s run for the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s research fund, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/run-for-the-ann-hanley-parkinsons-research-fund

Originally published on The TDN.

4th Annual KTFMC 5k: Castleton Classic to benefit Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund

The 4th Annual Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers’ Club 5k will be in Lexington for the first time since its inauguration. The KTFMC 5k: Castleton Classic will take place at Castleton Lyons and will be a race for all skill level of runners. This year’s race will take place in the spring which will allow horse lovers to enjoy running a paved farm lane that’s lined with blooming trees and babies frolicking in the fields.

Early bird registration is ONLY $30 thru 3/25/19. This price includes a race shirt and gift bag. The gift bag will include a free admission ticket to Keeneland which can be used any time during the 2019 Keeneland Spring Meet along with other items. New this year: Special pricing for children ages 5-17.

Race to benefit the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund.

REGISTER at runsignup.com/Race/KY/Lexington/KTFMC5k

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2019 at 8:30 AM

Castleton Lyons
3920 Mt. Horeb Pike
Lexington, KY 40511

RACE FEATURES
• Commemorative race long sleeve, dri-fit t-shirt
• Overall male & female winners will receive an engraved julep cup
• Top three finishers in each age group will receive medals
• Scenic and unique (never run before) route at Castleton Lyons
• Race to benefit the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund
• One free admission ticket to Keeneland’s 2019 Spring Meet
• Promo code from Horse Country Tours for 20% off one farm tour (exclusions apply)

Join us as we celebrate the opening day of Keeneland’s 2019 Spring Meet by running at Castleton Lyons.

What’s Hot in PD? Is DBS Plus a Viable Future Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease?

Over the past two decades, deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been extremely successful. It has been estimated that DBS has meaningfully helped tens of thousands of patients worldwide, improving tremor, dyskinesia, on-off fluctuations and several other Parkinson’s symptoms. DBS has however, fallen short in addressing disease progression issues including walking, talking and thinking. Scientists have long been enamored with the idea that since DBS is invasive, but relatively safe, it may be possible to use the guide tubes (straws that DBS leads are fed through to precisely place them into the brain) to deliver growth factors and other goodies to improve brain function. There is also evolving interest in developing DBS leads that could be connected to pumps. These pumps could continuously supply factors to the brain while maintaining the electrical current derived from the DBS device. In this month’s What’s Hot column we will introduce the concept of DBS plus.

The May 2016 edition of the Journal of Neurosurgery featured an article by Craig Van Horne and Greg Gerhardt from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. For many years, Craig and Greg have been interested in the delivery of neurotrophic factors as a strategy to restore or improve dopamine cell dysfunction in Parkinson’s. The experiment they devised was simple and clever. They used Schwann cells and neurotrophic factors within these cells from a superficial nerve (the sural nerve) in a patient’s own leg. The team then performed DBS, however before completing the operation they used the guide tubes to inject the nerve cells into the brain. They targeted the substantia nigra, one place where cells are known to die in Parkinson disease. Aside from three patients who reported a patch of numbness in the leg, there were no unexpected adverse reaction across all eight patients (Van Horne, 2016). The trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov under NCT01833364. The investigators have now undertaken a second follow-up DBS study: NCT02369003.

This general procedure has been termed DBS plus. The idea of utilizing the DBS delivery system for neurotrophic and other factors is a novel idea. If such a procedure can be shown to improve effectiveness or to slow disease progression this could be an important advance for people with Parkinson’s. The idea of combination therapy for Parkinson’s disease (DBS plus) is something that experts should carefully consider for future trials. The synergy of DBS, medications, trophic factors, stem cells and other therapies may be a homerun for the next generation of therapies. Too often we try one therapy and quit. Another more promising direction may be to combine our field’s bright spots, such as DBS, with other promising therapies (Heath and Heath, 2010).

Selected References:

van Horne CG, Quintero JE, Gurwell JA, Wagner RP, Slevin JT, Gerhardt GA. Implantation of autologous peripheral nerve grafts into the substantia nigra of subjects with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease treated with bilateral STN DBS: a report of safety and feasibility. J Neurosurg. 2016 May 6:1-8. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27153166.

Heath C and Heath D. Switch. Crown Business, 2010.

Article originally published here

What’s Hot in PD? Is DBS Plus a Viable Future Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease?

Over the past two decades, deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been extremely successful. It has been estimated that DBS has meaningfully helped tens of thousands of patients worldwide, improving tremor, dyskinesia, on-off fluctuations and several other Parkinson’s symptoms. DBS has however, fallen short in addressing disease progression issues including walking, talking and thinking. Scientists have long been enamored with the idea that since DBS is invasive, but relatively safe, it may be possible to use the guide tubes (straws that DBS leads are fed through to precisely place them into the brain) to deliver growth factors and other goodies to improve brain function. There is also evolving interest in developing DBS leads that could be connected to pumps. These pumps could continuously supply factors to the brain while maintaining the electrical current derived from the DBS device. In this month’s What’s Hot column we will introduce the concept of DBS plus.

The May 2016 edition of the Journal of Neurosurgery featured an article by Craig Van Horne and Greg Gerhardt from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. For many years, Craig and Greg have been interested in the delivery of neurotrophic factors as a strategy to restore or improve dopamine cell dysfunction in Parkinson’s. The experiment they devised was simple and clever. They used Schwann cells and neurotrophic factors within these cells from a superficial nerve (the sural nerve) in a patient’s own leg.

Read more at Parkinson.org

Continuation of a Pilot Study to Evaluate the Safety and Feasibility of Implanting Autologous Peripheral Nerve Grafts in Subjects with Parkinson’s Disease Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery and Treatment

A new procedure under study at Kentucky Neuroscience Institute implants nerve cells into the brains of people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.  Preliminary results indicate the procedure helps control symptoms and may slow the disease’s progression.

“With these studies we want to figure out how the graft affects patients long-term,” said Craig van Horne, MD, PhD, the neurosurgeon and principal investigator on the project.

In Parkinson’s disease, neurons die off in two tiny areas deep in the brain’s center. Normally, those neurons produce dopamine, a chemical critical in transmitting signals between nerves in the brain.  As dopamine output declines, Parkinson’s patients lose muscle control, usually seen as tremors, stiffness and difficulty walking.   

Van Horne’s procedure takes a nerve graft from the patient and grafts it into the affected area. There, the graft cells release chemicals believed to rejuvenate the brain’s weary dopamine-producing neurons. Van Horne said the problem with the brain is that after injury it doesn’t repair well. But in the peripheral nervous system, repairs happen more readily.

The peripheral nervous system, or PNS, is composed of nerves throughout the body’s organs and limbs. In contrast, the central nervous systems or CNS, includes brain and spinal cord.

“That was a big question in the 1980s, why the peripheral nervous system can regenerate well if its neurons are damaged but the central nervous  system does not?” van Horne said.

Key findings by other scientists proved it’s the environment of chemical growth factors that’s different in PNS, not the neurons themselves.

In undergraduate research using goldfish, van Horne and one of his professors implanted PNS cells into the fishes’ CNS.  Their results showed the graft must touch the surrounding CNS cells for the graft’s release of chemical growth factors to be effective.

During his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, van Horne trained in deep brain stimulation or DBS, a treatment for certain mid-and-later stage Parkinson’s disease patients. DBS uses a pacemaker to pulse electricity through one or more lead wires threaded through skull and into key parts of the brain.  The surgery to implant DBS leads would offer a key opportunity for van Horne’s future graft procedure. In later years, his research pinpointed Schwann cells- a type of support cells in the PNS – as producers of several chemicals that encourage regrowth in injured neurons.

In laboratory experiments, he found that incorporating both Schwann cells and neurons from the PNS helped  the grafts live longer in the brain. Recalling how the goldfish model provided its own graft tissue, van Horne and several of his students drew up a clinical trial that included all of the related findings.

“Couldn’t you just do that with a clinical trial – harvest the patient’s own peripheral nerve cells?” The body is not going to reject it immunologically. So we took all that and designed a trial,” he said.

It made sense to plant the graft during the DBS implantation surgery.  The DBS leads are inserted near where the graft must go. By combining the procedures, van Horne could use the same burr hole in the skull, lowering risk and causing less discomfort for patients afterward.

Though designed in Boston, van Horne’s clinical trial found a willing atmosphere and necessary funding assistance at UK and its Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). In mid-2011, the CCTS received a five-year, $20 million award from the National Institutes of Health to move innovative projects like van Horne’s from design to reality.

That and an offer to join the College of Medicine faculty played heavily in his decision to move to Kentucky in November 2011.

In coming years, the researchers plan to continue to track participants, perform more procedures, and test variations.  “What we are really going after is the (Parkinson’s disease) progression,” van Horne said.  “We’ll look at it two, three, four, five years out. We’re asking whether we can keep that process from getting worse, stop it all together or maybe improve it long term.”

Reference:

Information from UK HealthCare Making a Difference Summer 2015

Article: CLINICAL RESEARCH Nerve grafts into brain may reduce Parkinson’s symptoms

https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/health/publications/making-a-difference/

Industry Efforts Aid Parkinson’s Research

Ann Hanley, wife of WinStar Farm General Manager David Hanley, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 49 and instead of letting it get her down, she was inspired and empowered. She started the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund and teamed up with the University of Kentucky’s Dr. Craig Van Horne and Professor Greg Gerhardt to advance their groundbreaking research to treat this incurable disease through surgical procedure that implants a nerve graft into the brain.

The majority of the funding for this research has come from members of the Thoroughbred industry. Fasig-Tipton, Coolmore and WinStar hosted “Night for a Cure” during the Fasig-Tipton July sale, which raised over $300,000 and Goffs hosted a similar event that brought in over €150,000.

“What I really wanted to get across to the Thoroughbred community is the fact that they have been so helpful and so dedicated to my cause and they have really helped us get started with this study which is really important for Parkinson’s,” Hanley told the TDN. “We’ve implanted 34 patients with nerve grafts into the brain thanks to this funding. We’ve been able to see that it is a very safe procedure and it is really tolerated well.”

Hanley added, “Of that 34 we have 17 patients that are one year out [from having the procedure] and 11 of the 17 have shown clinically important improvements. This is really unbelievable and it’s amazing for this first of its kind study. The rest of those patients of the 17 all did well, but the 11 did really outstanding.”

Read more at thetdn.com

UK Parkinson’s research offers hope, promise

Standing at the pulpit, leading a congregation in song, Bill Crawford felt a familiar, foreboding numbness in his toes.

Within seconds, those toes curled down in his shoes like a bird clamping onto a wire. Pain spread through his feet and up his legs, twisting them to one side. He knew what came next: Uncontrollable muscles cramping and twisting his body and neck.

Trying to stop this “full-body charley horse,” Crawford laid down near the piano as the congregation kept singing.

Such episodes were an all-too-common part of Crawford’s life with Parkinson’s disease until last year, when an experimental procedure at the University of Kentucky gave him back control of his body. The technique, part of a first-ever clinical trial, involves implanting pieces of a nerve from near a patient’s ankle into the brain during a neurosurgical procedure known as deep brain stimulation. It’s showing promise against the devastating movement disorder that proved the toughest foe for the late boxing legend and Louisville native Muhammad Ali – and millions of others.

Read more at courier-journal.com

WinStar Constellation Feature: Night for A Cure

Fasig-Tipton, Coolmore and WinStar teamed up to host Night For A Cure in July to benefit the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund.

Hanley, the wife of WinStar’s General Manager David Hanley, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 50 and is working closely with a research team led by Dr. Greg Gerhardt and Dr. Craig van Horne at the University of Kentucky. The research team has made substantial progress in developing a new surgical technique to drastically reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease through procedures that include deep brain stimulation and nerve grafts. Recognizing the challenge of obtaining adequate funding for research, Hanley established the fund in 2015 to ensure that the groundbreaking work being conducted by Dr. Gerhardt and Dr. van Horne could continue. The event, held at Fasig-Tipton, raised nearly $300,000.

Read more at WinStar.com