The role of inflammatory cytokines in cognition and other non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
Psychosomatics. 2010 Nov-Dec;51(6):474-9.
Menza M, Dobkin RD, Marin H, Mark MH, Gara M, Bienfait K, Dicke A, Kusnekov A.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects patients’ lives with more than just physical impairment. Many of the non-motor aspects of PD, such as cognitive impairment, depression, and sleep disturbances, are common and are associated with a variety of poor outcomes. However, at present, the pathophysiology and clinical management of these symptoms are poorly understood.OBJECTIVE:
The authors sought to determine the associations between various illness-associated cytokines, cortisol, and the non-motor symptoms of PD.METHOD:
The authors examined a panel of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α) and cortisol in a cohort of 52 PD patients with depression.RESULTS:
There were a number of significant correlations between the non-motor symptoms and TNF-α. Specifically, the authors found that TNF-α (but not IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, or cortisol) was significantly correlated with measures of cognition, depression, and disability. In regression analyses accounting for all variables, TNF-α was consistently significant in explaining variance in cognition, depression, sleep, and disability.CONCLUSION:
These data are consistent with a growing body of literature that implicates inflammatory cytokines in neural and behavioral processes and further suggests that TNF-α may be involved in the production and/or maintenance of non-motor symptoms in PD.PMID: 21051678
Parkinson’s Disease is not just the loss of dopamine neurons. It affects the entire brain. There are other symptoms such as cognitive impairment, depression, sleep disturbances, that are not explained by the sole loss of dopamine signaling. This article shows TNF-α as a signal which is elevated in Parkinson’s Disease, which can contribute to its non-motor manifestations.