{"id":"373f4653-5bf7-4eb6-9a53-e06660ad57e3","slug":"parkinsons-disease-microglialmacrophage-induced-immunoexcitotoxicity-as-a-central-mechanism-of-neurodegeneration","title":"Parkinson’s disease: Microglial/macrophage-induced immunoexcitotoxicity as a central mechanism of neurodegeneration","authors":["Russell L. Blaylock"],"abstract":"Parkinson's disease is one of the several neurodegenerative disorders that affects aging individuals, with approximately 1% of those over the age of 60 years developing the disorder in their lifetime. The disease has the characteristics of a progressive disorder in most people, with a common pattern of pathological change occurring in the nervous system that extends beyond the classical striatal degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Earlier studies concluded that the disease was a disorder of alpha-synuclein, with the formation of aggregates of abnormal alpha-synuclein being characteristic. More recent studies have concluded that inflammation plays a central role in the disorder and that the characteristic findings can be accounted for by either mutation or oxidative damage to alpha-synuclein, with resulting immune reactions from surrounding microglia, astrocytes, and macrophages. What has been all but ignored in most of these studies is the role played by excitotoxicity and that the two processes are intimately linked, with inflammation triggered cell signaling enhancing the excitotoxic cascade. Further, there is growing evidence that it is the excitotoxic reactions that actually cause the neurodegeneration. I have coined the name immunoexcitotoxicity to describe this link between inflammation and excitotoxicity. It appears that the two processes are rarely, if ever, separated in neurodegenerative diseases. Russell Blaylock has written several landmark papers for Surgical Neurology International (SNI) over the years. He introduced the concept of immunoexcitotoxicity as the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 2011.[ 1 ] The concept fundamentally changed the understanding of repeated brain trauma and explained why football players and others in head contact sports develop dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson's disease. He now explains in the following paper how immunoexcitotoxicity plays a key role in the development of Parkinson's syndrome and the disease process. Dr. Blaylock has pioneered new concepts from which others have shied away because of controversy as a new idea. He has also written a two-part series for SNI on the immunology of a neurosurgeon.[ 2 3 ] He writes a monthly newsletter called the Blaylock Wellness Report, which is commercially available, and discusses the value of neutaceuticals, naturally occurring substances, which have a profound effect on health and wellness. These are also pioneering, scientifically-detailed publications. Now, there is a much larger group of physicians who are exploring the value of these molecular supplements in combating major diseases. His most recent paper deals with the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease and the key role that immuneexcitotoxicity plays in the development of this disease over time. This concept can be extended to other neurodegenerative diseases. His paper is a major tour de force and may take some time to read, but its scientific logic is incredibly well-documented and all fits into a plausible explanation for this disease. What he has written will be a landmark paper for the 21st century about Parkinson's disease and will lead to treatments and cures of the problem. As I have written, the immune system in disease will become a major new area of medical science in the 21st century and will explain many of the diseases whose causes have eluded us. I have asked him to write a summary of the paper as an introduction for the reader who would like to know the basics of what he has found. Following that summary is his major paper on the subject. We hope that you enjoy it. We are proud to bring this masterwork in science to the attention of our readers. Please share it with your neurologist friends and others who would be interested in this concept. You could even have a group take sections of this paper and discuss them, as the learning experience for immunology and the central nervous system will provide a basis for understanding many diseases, for which the causes are still unknown. Publishing this paper continues SNI's long-standing concept of bringing new, creative, and innovative concepts to our readers before they are in the mainstream publications. In the coming years, you will see many more publications that echo what Russell has written.","thumbnailUrl":null,"publishDate":"2017-04-26T00:00:00.000Z","doi":"10.4103/sni.sni_441_16","categories":["Review Article"],"fullTextUrl":"http://surgicalneurologyint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/8363/SNI-8-65.pdf"}