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Aging and Parkinson's disease: Different sides of the same coin?
Author(s) -
Collier Timothy J.,
Kanaan Nicholas M.,
Kordower Jeffrey H.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.27037
Subject(s) - substantia nigra , dopamine , parkinsonism , neuroscience , parkinson's disease , degeneration (medical) , degenerative disease , psychology , disease , medicine , central nervous system disease , dopaminergic , pathology
Despite abundant epidemiological evidence in support of aging as the primary risk factor for PD, biological correlates of a connection have been elusive. In this article, we address the following question: does aging represent biology accurately characterized as pre‐PD? We present evidence from our work on midbrain dopamine neurons of aging nonhuman primates that demonstrates that markers of known correlates of dopamine neuron degeneration in PD, including impaired proteasome/lysosome function, oxidative/nitrative damage, and inflammation, all increase with advancing age and are exaggerated in the ventral tier substantia nigra dopamine neurons most vulnerable to degeneration in PD. Our findings support the view that aging‐related changes in the dopamine system approach the biological threshold for parkinsonism, actively producing a vulnerable pre‐parkinsonian state. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society