[Current therapy studies in atypical Parkinson syndromes]

Atypical Parkinson syndromes are a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative diseases which present with parkinsonism and other non-motor symptoms. On the basis of the underlying pathology, namely the abnormal aggregation of the proteins alpha-synuclein or tau, atypical Parkinson syndromes can be divided into synucleinopathies (multiple system atrophy, Lewy body dementia) and tauopathies (progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration). Currently there are no effective treatments to slow down disease progression available. Medications which help to manage the symptoms show only temporary and insufficient efficacy. In recent years, preclinical research identified essential steps in the pathogenesis of the diseases. Treatments which inhibit pathological protein aggregation and its spreading were developed and showed promising results in animal models. First clinical trials of causal treatments targeting the underlying pathomechanism have been finished; several trials are recruiting patients or being planned at the moment. In the following article we present the latest developments regarding the causal therapy of atypical Parkinson syndromes and the current clinical trials.