Young Plasma Infusions Significantly Improve Clinical Symptoms and UPDRS Scores in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

In both preclinical and clinical studies, transfusions of plasma from young individuals have been reported to ameliorate aspects of neurodegeneration. This study was designed as a preliminary test of the hypothesis that plasma transfusions from young donors might benefit Parkinson's patients. 19 patients were allocated to receive either 2-liters of plasma from young donors, in two doses spaced two days apart or two doses of placebo. For the next 24 weeks, this double-blind study evaluated changes on a modified MDS-UPDRS scale, along with blood tests and other observations. Adverse events possibly related to transfusion were mild rise in blood pressure and urticaria. A t-test on the changes in the sum of UPDRS subscales 1-3 showed that the plasma patients did better than the placebo patients (p=0.03*). For patients given yFFP® (young Fresh Frozen Plasma), the estimated decrease in the sum of scales 1-3 was 7.1 (95% conf. interval 4.3 to 9.9). Our results give a preliminary indication that young plasma transfusions reduce Parkinson's symptoms and have a place in treatment of these patients (NCT 04202757).