Mohan K. Ghanta, P. Elango and Bhaskar L. V. K. S.* Pages 4738 - 4746 ( 9 )
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of dopaminergic striatal neurons in basal ganglia. Treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) through dopamine replacement strategies may provide improvement in early stages and this treatment response is related to dopaminergic neuronal mass which decreases in advanced stages. This treatment failure was revealed by many studies and levodopa treatment became ineffective or toxic in chronic stages of PD. Early diagnosis and neuroprotective agents may be a suitable approach for the treatment of PD. The essentials required for early diagnosis are biomarkers. Characterising the striatal neurons, understanding the status of dopaminergic pathways in different PD stages may reveal the effects of the drugs used in the treatment. This review updates on characterisation of striatal neurons, electrophysiology of dopaminergic pathways in PD, biomarkers of PD, approaches for success of neuroprotective agents in clinical trials. The literature was collected from the articles in database of PubMed, MedLine and other available literature resources.
Parkinson's disease, striatal neurons characterisation, electrophysiology, biomarkers, neuroprotection, clinical trials.
Department of Pharmacology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Porur, Chennai-600116, Tamil Nadu, Department of Pharmacology, Panimalar Medical College Hospital & Research Institute, Poonamallee, Chennai-600123, Tamil Nadu, Department of Zoology, Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur, 495009 (CG)