Potential therapeutic targets for Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease is a common disorder that becomes more prevalent with advanced age. The cardinal features are related to dopamine deficiency, arising from loss of neurons projecting from the substantia nigra in the midbrain to the striatum. Therapies based on dopamine replacement are well established but while highly effective, leave a number of currently unmet needs. These include features of disease that are probably not related to dopamine deficiency and are unresponsive to dopamine-replacement therapy, as well as complications of long-term dopaminergic therapy itself. The most important gap is the availability of treatments that modify the inexorable progression of disease or that could prevent its onset in subjects at risk. Objective: To identify needs that are unmet or only partially addressed by currently available therapies for Parkinson's and select approaches that may be helpful for their management. Methods: Discussion of the mechanisms that may contribute to currently unmet nee...