Immune system and new avenues in Parkinson's disease research and treatment

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. However, although 200 years have now passed since the primary clinical description of PD by James Parkinson, the etiology and mechanisms of neuronal loss in this disease are still not fully understood. In addition to genetic and environmental factors, activation of immunologic responses seems to have a crucial role in PD pathology. Intraneuronal accumulation of alpha-synuclein (alpha-Syn), as the main pathological hallmark of PD, potentially mediates initiation of the autoimmune and inflammatory events through, possibly, auto-reactive T cells. While current therapeutic regimens are mainly used to symptomatically suppress PD signs, application of the disease-modifying therapies including immunomodulatory strategies may slow down the progressive neurodegeneration process of PD. The aim of this review is to summarize knowledge regarding previous studies on the relationships between autoimmune reactions and PD pathology as well as to discuss current opportunities for immunomodulatory therapy.