[GerryW]

Is lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin from bacterial cell walls, merely a research tool to investigate microglial activation and neuronal damage or a real world cause of PD?

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/pd/2011/327089/

"LPS acts as an endotoxin and elicits multiple pathological effects in human beings. One case report may uncover a potential link between LPS infection and the development of Parkinsonism. A 22-year-old laboratory worker was accidentally exposed to 10 μg Salmonella minnesota LPS through an open wound and developed Parkinson’s syndrome with bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor, and cogwheel phenomenon three weeks later; damage to the substantia nigra and cerebral cortex was shown by positron emission tomography a few years after the accident."