Advances in Biomedical Research and Clinical Studies of Parkinson’s Disease and Atypical Parkinsonian Disorders

Dear Colleagues,

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in the older adult population. PD typically begins because of the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain's substantia nigra pars compacta region. Lewy bodies, which are denatured aggregates of the protein a-synuclein, are found in these neuronal cells, the formation of which promotes dopaminergic neuronal cell dysfunction and death. PD typically presents as a movement disorder (symptoms including rigidity, slowness of movement, postural instability, and resting tremor). However, there are numerous comorbid non-motor symptoms in PD, including depression and psychosis, constipation, urinary disruption, and sleep disorders.

Parkinsonian syndromes (so-called “atypical parkinsonian disorders”) have been recognized as pathologically distinct, neurodegenerative conditions that mimic several of the symptoms of PD. The atypical parkinsonian syndromes are synucleinopathies and tauopathies, i.e., disorders characterized by the abnormal deposition of the proteins a-synuclein and tau, respectively. The site of deposition is correlated with the clinical features. Importantly, patients with these alternate conditions find their disease progression to carry greater and earlier morbidity and altered risks of mortality as compared to idiopathic PD. The atypical parkinsonian disorders include multiple system atrophy parkinsonian variant (MSA-P), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLBs), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

This Topic on Parkinson’s disease and atypical parkinsonian disorders will provide an update of this complex neurodegenerative field, and it will offer the basis for future work in understanding these disorders. Manuscripts that include any aspect related to basic science models and complex systems (in vitro and in vivo), pathogenesis and the process(es) leading to disease (from prodrome to active disease), new genetic markers, new pharmaceutical drugs and targets, complementary and alternative medicine approaches, exercise/physical activity used as treatment and medicine, drug repurposing, clinical reports and studies, and reviews (systematic, meta-analysis, and narrative) will be considered appropriate for this Topic.

Dr. Frank C. Church
Dr. Stefania Brotini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• neurodegenerative diseases
• Parkinson’s disease (PD)
• atypical parkinsonian disorders (APDs)
• Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
• frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
• Dementia with Lewy Body (DLB)
• Multiple System Atrophy Parkinsonian Variant (MSA-P)
• Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)
• Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD)
• biomarkers of PD and APD
• pathophysiology of neurodegeneration in PD and APD
• α-synuclein, beta-amyloid, and tau
• role of exercise in therapy for neurodegenerative disorders (PD and APD)
• recent discoveries in the genetics and therapies of neurodegenerative dementias in PD and APD
• brain plasticity
• Complementary &Alternative Medicine (CAM) approaches in PD and APD
• research aimed to understand the role of neuroinflammation in PD and APD
• advances in the role of a dysfunctional immune system in the etiology of PD and APD
• mitochondria and cellular energy problems in PD and APD.