Current Genetic Medicine Reports

Shah, Siddharth; Tereda, Abiy; Mansour, Hadeel M.

doi: 10.1007/s40142-024-00210-1pmid: N/A

BackgroundThe objective of this study is to discuss the pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms of Parkinson's disease, compare the treatment options for Parkinson's disease and discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and future direction of treatments. Parkinson's disease resists distillation into a single, coherent condition due to its clinical, pathological, and genetic heterogeneity. Rather, each afflicted person experiences a nearly distinct kind of Parkinson's condition. Variable motor and nonmotor aspects make up the clinical symptoms, and several commonalities with other neurodegenerative disorders are acknowledged. Since Dr. Parkinson first described Parkinson's disease (PD) in 1817, more than 200 years have passed. The primary feature of the illness, which ranks second in frequency among neurodegenerative diseases after Alzheimer's disease, is the gradual loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. MethodsThis is a review article. PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and research meeting abstracts were searched up to 2024 for studies of Parkinson’s disease, Molecular mechanisms causing it, and its treatment. Systematic information retrieval was performed from PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and research meeting abstracts. Appropriate studies were isolated based on important information available in the studies. The information from each article was understood and extracted to form a database. This helped the authors use the information while writing the article and not miss anything important.ResultsIn recent years, research has focused mostly on the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease, and several mechanisms have been established. Scientists' study discoveries help us comprehend the pathogenic mechanisms. It is well acknowledged that Parkinson's disease develops as a result of both environmental and genetic causes. In this review, the main genes linked to Parkinson's disease—α-synuclein, VPS35, PRKN/PARK7/PINK1, LRRK2, GBA1, Parkin, and DJ-1—mutations are discussed.ConclusionPossible causes of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease are addressed, including dopamine metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, impaired autophagy, and immunological dysregulation. Finally, the treatment direction for Parkinson's disease is discussed. This includes the practice of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), current research on Pluripotent Stem cell therapy, and Exablate Neuro as the future for Parkinson’s treatment.