Cellular Therapies for Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s Disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder with an incidence of 5 to 10 per 100,000 in the Caucasian community. The clinical symptoms of HD are chorea, parkinsonism, dystonia, intellectual impairment, emotional and psychiatric disturbances as well as dysphasia, dysarthria, rigidity and gait disturbances. The depression that is associated with HD is thought to be secondary to the motor abnormalities, given that it develops prior to the appearance of any other symptoms (Folstein, 1989). To date symptomatic treatments are the only available treatments for HD as there are no diseasemodifying therapies.