Microglia as a posible pathomechanism in Parkinson's diseases

It has been suggested that neuroinflammatory mechanisms augment the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD): Apart from the massive loss of dopaminergic neurons, PD brains also show a conspicuous microglial reaction accompanied by elevated cytokine levels and upregulation of inflammatory-associated factors. However, endogenous factors initiating microglial activation are largely unknown. We therefore investigated the effects of human neuromelanin (NM) on the release of neurotoxic mediators and the underlying signaling pathways from rat microglia in vitro. The addition of NM to microglial cultures induced positiv…