Targets and Mechanisms in Prevention of Parkinson's Disease through Immunomodulatory Treatments

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world; however, there is no cure for it. Current treatments only relieve some of the symptoms, without ceasing the disease, and lose efficacy with prolonged treatment. Considerable evidence shows that persistent inflammatory responses, involving T cell infiltration and glial cell activation, are common characteristics of human patients and play a crucial role in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Therefore, it is important to develop therapeutic strategies that can impede or halt the disease through the modulation of the peripheral immune system by aiming at controlling the existing neuroinflammation. Most of the immunomodulatory therapies designed for the treatment of Parkinson's disease are based on vaccines using AS or antibodies against it; yet, it is of significant interest to explore other formulations that could be used as therapeutic agents. Several vaccination procedures have shown that inducing regulatory T cells in the periphery is protective in PD animal models. In this regard, the formulation glatiramer acetate (Copaxone^® ), extensively used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, could be a suitable candidate due to its capability to increase the number and suppressor capacity of regulatory T cells. In this review, we will present some of the recent immunomodulatory therapies for PD including vaccinations with AS or glatiramoids, or both, as treatments of PD pathology.