Autoimmunity and Parkinson's Disease

[Michael Oberdorfer]

Researchers at Columbia University and The La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology have evidence that an autoimmune response may play a role the development of Parkinson’s Disease (PD.)

Researchers have long suspected that the immune system played a role in PD, but these “findings show that two fragments of alpha-synuclein, a protein that accumulates in the brain cells of people with Parkinson’s, can activate the T cells involved in autoimmune attacks,” according to David Sulzer of Columbia.

“It remains to be seen whether the immune response to alpha-synuclein is an initial cause of Parkinson’s or if it contributes to neuronal death and worsening symptoms after the onset of the disease,” says Alessandro Sette of La Jolla.

This finding may lead to a therapies involving the immune response to alpha-synuclein. The research was published in Nature.