Treatment Of Parkinson's Disease With SIM BHLH Transcription Factor 2 (SIM2) Agonists

A method of treating a subject having Parkinson's disease or at risk of developing Parkinson's disease by administering a Parkinson's disease therapeutic agent, the method comprising:

• determining or having determined whether the subject has a SIM BHLH Transcription Factor 2 (SIM2) variant nucleic acid molecule, by:
• obtaining or having obtained a biological sample from the subject;
• and
• performing or having performed a sequence analysis on the biological sample to determine if the subject has a genotype comprising a SIM2 variant nucleic acid molecule;
• and
• administering or continuing to administer the Parkinson's disease therapeutic agent in an amount that is the same as a standard dosage amount to a subject that is SIM2 reference;
• or
• administering or continuing to administer the Parkinson's disease therapeutic agent in an amount that is the same as or less than a standard dosage amount, and/or a SIM2 agonist to a subject that is heterozygous or homozygous for the SIM2 variant nucleic acid molecule;
• wherein the presence of the SIM2 variant nucleic acid molecule indicates the subject has an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

A method of identifying a subject having an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, the method comprising:

• determining or having determined the presence or absence of a SIM BHLH Transcription Factor 2 (SIM2) variant nucleic acid molecule in a biological sample obtained from the subject;
• wherein:
• when the subject is SIM2 reference, then the subject has a decreased risk of developing Parkinson's disease;
• and
• when the subject is heterozygous or homozygous for the SIM2 variant nucleic acid molecule, then the subject has an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.