title: Substance P and Parkinson's disease: a causal relationship?
abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common condition that is thought to result from a marked degeneration of dopaminergic neurones of midbrain origin. Here I present evidence to show that PD may result from a primary loss of active tachykinin, probably substance P (SP) in the substantia nigra (SN), and that this loss leads to a secondary degeneration of the dopaminergic neurones. This raises the possibility of treating and curing patients with PD by giving them SP agonsts.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D011498:Protein Precursors; D051381:Rats; D018040:Receptors, Neurokinin-1; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000378:metabolism; D013373:Substance P / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D015320:Tachykinins
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D011498:Protein Precursors; D018040:Receptors, Neurokinin-1; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter; D015320:Tachykinins; C044206:preprotachykinin; D013373:Substance P