Chronic Allergies May be Linked to Parkinsons Disease

From Timesonline.co.uk

A study by US scientists has shown that sufferers of allergic rhinitis, a condition that causes symptoms of having a “permanent cold”, appear to be at much greater risk of the degenerative neurological condition. The research, which explored possible links between conditions that cause inflammation and the breakdown of brain cells, found a marked increase in cell death in rhinitis sufferers.

In the paper, published this week in the journal Neurology, they speculate that the inflammation produced by the allergy may release certain chemicals in the brain and inadvertently kill brain cells, as seen in conditions such as Parkinson’s. Between 8,000 and 10,000 Britons have Parkinson’s diagnosed each year, although experts say that in many other cases it is mistakenly identified as a different condition. Read More

NOTE: data is sourced from Neurology, but linked article comes form Timesonline.co.uk. The Journal of Neurology is a fee based site.

Inflammation/ Free Radicals and Parkinson's Disease

From Annalsonline.org (New York Academy of Sciences)
M. FLINT BEAL
The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains obscure, but there is increasing evidence that impairment of mitochondrial function, oxidative damage (free radicals) , and inflammation are contributing factors. The present paper reviews the experimental and clinical evidence implicating these processes in Parkinson's Disease. Read More.

Free Radicals and Parkinson's Disease

From News-Medical.net
University of Virginia Health System

Research by neuroscientists at the University of Virginia Health System shows that oxygen free radicals are damaging proteins in mitochondria, the tiny cellular 'batteries' of brain cells.

This damage may be one main cause of Parkinson's Disease (PD), the chronic movement disorder that affects at least one million Americans. UVa scientists believe the damage is taking place in a large protein structure called complex I, the first stop in the electron transport chain, which produces an electrical charge inside mitochondria. Mitochondria then use this electrical charge to make energy.

Using the brain cells from deceased Parkinson's patients who donated to the UVa brain bank, Dr. Jim Bennett, a UVa neurologist, and colleagues, isolated complex I from the mitochondria of ten Parkinson's brains and compared them to the complex I proteins from twelve normal brains. They discovered that the complex I assembly in Parkinson's had 50 percent more damage from oxygen. The complex I in Parkinson's brains also had evidence of not being properly assembled and had reduced electron flow, Bennett said.

"This part of the protein complex is being damaged by oxygen free radicals more in a brain with Parkinson's than it is in someone of same age who does not have PD," Bennett said. His research is published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Read More.