Rifampicin shows promise for fighting PD in laboratory tests.

This article cites a study showing that rifampicin, an antibiotic used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis, can prevent the formation of protein fibrils associated with the death of brain cells in people with Parkinson disease. The research was carried out by a team of scientists in Fink's lab, including postdoctoral researchers Jie Li, Min Zhu and Sudha Rajamani and research associate Vladimir Uversky. Li is first author of a paper describing their results in the journal "Chemistry and Biology," published online on November 29, 2004. Researchers studied the effects of rifampicin in test tube experiments and are currently doing studies with cell cultures and mice to see if the same effects occur in living cells. Findings suggest that rifampicin and related compounds might be effective in preventing fibril formation and associated neurological damage in patients with Parkinson disease.