Neural cell transplantation and gene therapy have attracted considerable interest as promising therapeutic alternatives for patients\r\nwith Parkinson�s disease (PD). Preclinical and open-label studies have suggested that grafted fetal neural tissue or viral vector gene\r\ntransfer can achieve considerable biochemical and clinical improvements, whereas subsequent double-blind, placebo-controlled\r\nprotocols have produced rather more modest and variable results. Detailed evaluation of these discordant findings has highlighted\r\nseveral crucial issues such as patient selection criteria, details surrounding transplantation or gene therapy methodologies, as well\r\nas the study designs themselves that ought to be carefully considered in the planning phases of future clinical trials. Beyond the\r\nprovision of symptomatic efficacy and safety data, it also remains to be identified whether the possibilities offered by stem cell and\r\ngene therapy technological advances might translate to meaningful neuroprotection and/or disease-modifying effects or alleviate\r\nthe nonmotor aspects of PD and thus offer additional benefits beyond those achieved through conventional pharmacotherapy or\r\ndeep brain stimulation (DBS).
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