Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most frequent neurodegenerative diseases: nowadays, PD patients are estimated to be around 230,000 in Italy. The pathophysiological mechanism underlying this neurodegenerative disease is the chronic and progressive depletion of substantia nigra’s dopaminergic neurons. PD is clinically characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. Diagnosis is made trough the combination of four cardinal motor symptoms: bradykinesia, tremor at rest, muscle rigidity and postural instability that occurs in the later stages of disease. Currently, there are several pharmaceuticals categories marketed for the treatment of PD, but Levodopa is the “gold-standard” drug treatment. PD etiology is still unknown; the sporadic form of PD is the most frequent. Hereditary forms (with mutations in particular genes) of PD have been described and also other cases of iatrogenic’s or toxic’s Parkinson, due to toxins such as MPTP (the most powerful toxin inducing PD currently recognized), carbon disulfide, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide and manganese. In particular, the consumption over the past years of MPTP has resulted in many cases of juvenile parkinsonism. As a consequence of this discovery, researchers started to investigate other possible environmental causes, for instance the use of pesticides in agriculture, in the etiology of PD.
La malattia di Parkinson (MP) è una delle più frequenti malattie neurodegenerative: in Italia attualmemte si stimano circa 230.000 soggetti con tale patologia. La causa fisiopatologica della neurodegenerazione è la deplezione cronica e progressiva dei neuroni dopaminergici localizzati nella sostanza nera - pars compacta-. La MP è caratterizzata clinicamente da una sintomatologia motoria e non motoria. La combinazione dei quattro sintomi motori cardinali ne permette la diagnosi clinica: bradicinesia, tremore a riposo, rigidità muscolare ed instabilità posturale che si presenta soprattutto negli stadi più avanzati di malattia. Il trattamento farmacologico gold standard è la Levodopa, pur essendoci altre categorie farmaceutiche in commercio. Non sono a tutt'oggi note le cause della malattia. L'esordio sporadico idiopatico è quello più frequente, ma sono state descritte forme ereditarie (con mutazione in particolari geni – forme monogeniche). In altri casi si tratta di cause iatrogene o tossiche, dovuto a tossine quali MPTP (la tossina più potente in grado di indurre MP attualmente riconosciuta), disolfuro di carbonio, acido cianidrico, monossido di carbonio e manganese. In particolare, il consumo negli anni passati di MPTP ha provocato numerosi casi di parkinsonismo ad esordio giovanile. Da qui la necessità per i ricercatori di indagare la presenza di altre cause ambientali, come per esempio l'uso di pesticidi in agricoltura, nell’eziopatogenesi della MP.
Malattia di Parkinson e Neurotossicità : dall' MPTP (1-metil 4-fenil 1,2,3,6-tetraidro-piridina)ai pesticidi
VIGNAROLI, ELENA
2014/2015
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most frequent neurodegenerative diseases: nowadays, PD patients are estimated to be around 230,000 in Italy. The pathophysiological mechanism underlying this neurodegenerative disease is the chronic and progressive depletion of substantia nigra’s dopaminergic neurons. PD is clinically characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. Diagnosis is made trough the combination of four cardinal motor symptoms: bradykinesia, tremor at rest, muscle rigidity and postural instability that occurs in the later stages of disease. Currently, there are several pharmaceuticals categories marketed for the treatment of PD, but Levodopa is the “gold-standard” drug treatment. PD etiology is still unknown; the sporadic form of PD is the most frequent. Hereditary forms (with mutations in particular genes) of PD have been described and also other cases of iatrogenic’s or toxic’s Parkinson, due to toxins such as MPTP (the most powerful toxin inducing PD currently recognized), carbon disulfide, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide and manganese. In particular, the consumption over the past years of MPTP has resulted in many cases of juvenile parkinsonism. As a consequence of this discovery, researchers started to investigate other possible environmental causes, for instance the use of pesticides in agriculture, in the etiology of PD.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/21726