Neuroinflammation and the prospects for anti-inflammatory treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, the cause of which remains elusive. Neuroinflammation appears to be a ubiquitous pathological change in both patients and experimental models of PD, both of which present with the classical features of inflammation, but with evidence that the process has become uncontrolled. Therefore, the use of anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of PD appears to be a logical development. Preclinical studies have largely supported the potential of anti-inflammatory compounds in PD. However, reports are conflicting, and preclinical success with these compounds is generally achieved by administration prior to or at the same time as a neurotoxic insult. This regimen, therefore, fails to account for the fact that the disease process is well developed upon diagnosis in patients. Perhaps unsurprisingly, success in the clinic with anti-inflammatory PD compounds has been modest. It has been suggested that anti-inflammatory drugs may be useful as adjuncts to other therapeutic avenues, particularly drugs that aim to restore neuronal loss. Such an approach seems logical given that the etiology of PD is unlikely to arise from a single factor and, accordingly, treatment may require intervention at different mechanistic loci. This review discusses the anti-inflammatory agents that have been suggested to have potential for the treatment of PD.