Abstract
Parkinson's Disease: General Features, Effects of Levodopa Treatment and Future Directions
Highlights
Among the neurodegenerative movement disorders, Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most prevalent (Schapira, 2009), affecting about 1% of people aged over 55 years, with a increase of fivefold by the age of 70, characterizing aging as the most important risk factor for this pathology (Collier et al, 2007)
The main histopathological feature of PD is the loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) (Dauer and Przedborski, 2003) with a further depletion of dopamine in the striatum
Following the neuronal degeneration there is a loss of the striatal dopaminergic innervation, which results in the characteristic motor dysfunction observed in PD
Summary
Among the neurodegenerative movement disorders, Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most prevalent (Schapira, 2009), affecting about 1% of people aged over 55 years, with a increase of fivefold by the age of 70, characterizing aging as the most important risk factor for this pathology (Collier et al, 2007). Following the neuronal degeneration there is a loss of the striatal dopaminergic innervation, which results in the characteristic motor dysfunction observed in PD. In addition to the motor dysfunction, cognitive, and behavioral alterations are observed in PD, since other neuronal groups are affected for instance in the locus coeruleus, the nucleus basalis of Meynert, and in later stages, in the neocortex (Braak et al, 2003).
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