Evidence for immune system alterations in peripheral biological fluids in Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Immune-related alterations in Parkinson's disease (PD) can be monitored by assessing peripheral biological fluids that show that specific inflammatory pathways contribute to a chronic pro-inflammatory status. This pro-inflammatory activity is hypothesized to be already present in the prodromal stages of PD. These pathways maintain and reinforce chronic neurodegeneration by stimulating cell activation and proliferation what triggers the pro-inflammatory status as well. The gut microbiome possibly contributes to inflammatory pathways and shows specific differences in fecal samples from PD compared to healthy controls. In PD, Bacteroides abundance correlates with inflammatory markers in blood and motor impairment. Increased pro-inflammatory and decreased anti-inflammatory bacterial colonization can lead to changes in the metabolic pathways of amino acids, inducing increased membrane permeability, described as a leaky gut, enabling advanced contact between immune cells and gut microbiome and potentially a spreading of neuroinflammation through the body via the blood. Increased cytokine blood levels in PD are correlated with disease severity, motor symptoms, and clinical phenotypes. α-synuclein is a central player in PD-associated inflammation, inducing specific T-cell activity and triggering microglial activation in the central nervous system (CNS). Misfolded α-synuclein propagation possibly results in the spreading of aggregated α-synuclein from neuron to neuron leading to a sustained neuroinflammation. This is supported by age-dependent defects of protein uptake in microglia and monocytes, so-called "inflammaging", including α-synuclein oligomers, as the key pathological protein in PD. Genetic risk markers and inherited forms of PD are also associated with inflammation, which is highly relevant for potential therapeutical targets. The documented associations of inflammatory markers and clinical phenotypes indicate a pro-inflammatory concept of specific PD pathophysiology here. An in-depth understanding of inflammatory mechanisms in PD from bottom (gut) to top (CNS) and vice versa is needed to design novel immunomodulatory approaches to delay or even stop PD. Future studies focusing on structured protocols in large patient cohorts with appropriate control groups and comparative analysis among studies will aid the discovery of novel candidate biomarkers.

Keywords: Inflammaging; Inflammation; Leaky gut; Microbiome; Parkinson's disease; α-synuclein.