Immune System’s ‘Friendly Fire’ May Trigger Parkinson’s Symptoms

Immune System’s ‘Friendly Fire’ May Trigger Parkinson’s Symptoms
By TRACI PEDERSEN Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on May 17, 2011
“Friendly fire” by the body’s own immune system may damage a pathway at the base of the brain that is vital in the execution of smooth, coordinated movements.

This in turn could lead to symptoms associated with Parkinson-like diseases, according to University of Florida and Mayo Clinic Florida scientists.

Scientists have suspected that exposure to viruses and other environmental factors may trigger Parkinson-like symptoms, but it has remained a mystery as to why this exposure would actually destroy certain areas of the brain.In the movie ‘Awakenings,’ it was suggested that people who previously suffered from an infection like the flu developed Parkinsonism, probably because of degeneration in a brain pathway known as the nigrostriatal tract. But the links between infection and subsequent Parkinsonism have always been controversial,” said Dr. Todd Golde, director of the UF College of Medicine’s Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease.

“Our data show that when a certain master protein that stimulates the immune system and antiviral response is expressed at high levels, it causes neuronal loss primarily in the nigrostriatal tract, thereby creating vulnerability to Parkinson’s and similar movement disorders.”...

ttp://psychcentral.com/news/2011/05/17/immune-systems-friendly-fire-may-trigger-parkinsons-symptoms/26241.html