Cienciaes.com: Is Parkinson’s an autoimmune disease?

2020-05-11 11:58:04

Parkinson’s disease affects about seven million people worldwide and causes about 120,000 deaths each year. Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease that, in the most advanced stages, affects motor neurons, most of which die. This causes the motor problems most characteristic of this disease, including tremors, stiffness, slowness of movement, and difficulty walking.

It has been known for decades that motor problems are caused by a loss of neurons in the substantia nigra, located in the midbrain, a region of the brain located in the lower part of it. These neurons produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, and are called dopaminergic. Stopping the progression of the disease before the most serious symptoms appear, caused by the irreversible loss of dopaminergic neurons, would be an excellent treatment possibility.

One possible cause of Parkinson’s disease is that it is due to an attack by the immune system on these types of cells. A group of researchers has analyzed patients with this disease and healthy people and concluded that the former have T lymphocytes capable of identifying and killing cells that produce the protein called alpha-synuclein. This protein is produced by dopaminergic neurons, so these can be eliminated by these lymphocytes.

Interestingly, the researchers found a patient who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2009, and who had been a blood donor for 11 years. Some of his blood had been preserved frozen, keeping the cells alive for later analysis, and was available for his study. Analysis of immune cells from these blood samples confirmed that the patient did not initially have T lymphocytes capable of identifying alpha-synuclein, but a few years before the Parkinson’s diagnosis these T lymphocytes began to appear.

These studies offer new hope for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in its early stages, through the use of immunosuppressive strategies used to treat other diseases of this class, or in the prevention of transplant rejection.

References:

Cecilia S. Lindestam Arlehamn et al. (2020) α-Synuclein-specific T cell reactivity is associated with preclinical and early Parkinson’s disease.

Raise hope for narcolepsy

Jorge Laborda, May 10, 2020

Outreach works by Jorge Laborda

Your defenses against coronavirus