title: New insights into the cause of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Current concepts as to the cause of Parkinson's disease (PD) suggest an inherited predisposition to environmental or endogenous toxic agents. Study of the substantia nigra after death in PD has highlighted three major changes: (1) evidence of oxidative stress and depletion of reduced glutathione; (2) high levels of total iron, with reduced ferritin buffering; and (3) mitochondrial complex I deficiency. Which of these is the primary event, generating a secondary cascade of changes culminating in nigral cell death, is unknown. In presymptomatic Lewy body-positive control brains, the nigra shows depletion of reduced glutathione content and, possibly, a reduction of complex I activity. Whatever the significance of these various abnormalities, be they causal or secondary, they provide novel targets for the development of new strategies to treat the cause of PD.
authors.affiliation: RKQ (Royal Kings and Queens) Parkinson's Disease Research Group, King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jenner
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Schapira
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Marsden
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000473:pathology; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D009498:Neurotoxins; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010302:Parkinson Disease, Secondary / Q000139:chemically induced; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D009498:Neurotoxins