Jhodi M. Webster

Rethinking single-pathology therapies by targeting inflammation and co-pathologies in Parkinson’s disease

Co-expression of tau and amyloid-beta with α-syn pathology is shown in over 50% of Parkinson’s Disease postmortem brains, and these patients present with enhanced cognitive decline and disease phenotype. This review integrates the known immune response in PD with co-pathology incidence, highlighting synergistic interactions between α-syn, tau and Aβ and how this promotes a distinct neuroinflammatory response leading to severe neuronal loss and cognitive symptoms. Based on this, we support the need for combinatorial therapeutic strategies to address this debilitating, yet common factor of disease.