Lady GABA Part 1 of 4
Published 12/05/2022
Today I want to try something different, which is to put a more complex story out for you, but it will unfold over several posts.
Welcome to Lady GABA, a multi-part blog on the fascinating topic of GABA and its role in Parkinson's Disease. In these blogs, we will cover the disease symptoms, progression, current treatments, and where GABA comes into play. Is PD environmentally created, or are PD sufferers Born This Way? Read on for more.
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a severe, multisystemic neurodegenerative disorder of the nervous system. (1) It usually begins with slow, stiff movements, slight tremors and progresses to loss of facial expression, lack of balance, impaired posture, increased tremors, loss of automatic movements, and difficulty handwriting. (2) At the time of writing, Parkinson's affects over 1 million people in the United States, and this is expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030. (3)
While in most cases the cause is unknown, PD pathologically appears to begin in the medulla and extend upwards in the brainstem until it ultimately affects the neocortex. Clinical symptoms are typically not seen until there is degeneration of the uppermost part of the brainstem and part of the midbrain structure (4); this being the pars compacta of the substantia nigra (SNc) with dopaminergic denervation of the striatum, (5) (6) and it seems due to the high energy demands of these particular neurons, that these are more vulnerable to die off due to the amount of energy needed to recharge. (7)
Akin to type 1 diabetes, PD is asymptomatic until cellular destruction is well advanced; in this case, until degeneration of dopaminergic neurons sets in and works its way far enough up the brainstem. In autopsies of PD patients, there appeared to be abnormality progression up the brainstem in accordance with the Braak model. PD-related inclusion bodies, such as Lewy Bodies, were only found in the medulla. But as the disease clinically advanced, the abnormalities advanced to the midbrain and, eventually, all the way to the neocortex. Interestingly, this degeneration appears to have a strong relationship with gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GABA).
More on that in the next installment.
References
1- PubMed NCBI NLM: Parkinson's Disease and Neurodegeneration: GABA-Collapse Hypothesis
2- Mayo Clinic: Parkinson's disease
3- Parkinson’s Foundation: Understanding Parkinson’s
4- The Human Memory: Substantia Nigra
5- PubMed NCBI NLM: Imaging of Substantia Nigra in Parkinson's Disease: A Narrative Review
6- MDPI: Imaging of Substantia Nigra in Parkinson’s Disease: A Narrative Review
7- PubMed NCBI NLM: Parkinson’s Disease, the Dopaminergic Neuron and Gammahydroxybutyrate