The link at the end of the above lets you download the full text and it is very interesting. I had assumed that this was an anti-inflammatory action, but numbers 4 and 5 below open up some new ideas that might apply directly to PD as well.


The authors' preferred hypothesis to explain the rapid
clinical improvement observed centers on the emerging
evidence, which suggests that TNF-alpha is of critical
importance in the regulation of synaptic transmission in
the brain. The authors are led in this direction by the com-
bination of:
1. The extreme rapidity of the effect;
2. The extraordinary potency and selectivity of etanercept
as an anti-TNF-alpha agent, due to its biologic nature and
molecular structure;
3. The various lines of scientific evidence which have sug-
gested that synaptic dysfunction may be of key impor-
tance in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease [28-32];
4. Evidence suggesting that TNF-alpha regulates synaptic
transmission in the brain[33-35,42,43]; and,
5. Evidence suggesting that TNF-alpha mediates the syn-
aptic dysfunction underlying cognitive and behavioral
impairment produced by both beta-amyloid and beta-
amyloid oligomers [36,37].