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The basal forebrain cholinergic system as target for cell replacement therapy in Parkinson's disease

Björklund, Anders LU orcid and Barker, Roger A. LU (2024) In Brain 147(6). p.1937-1952
Abstract

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the basal forebrain cholinergic system as a target for the treatment of cognitive impairments in patients with Parkinson's disease, due in part to the need to explore novel approaches to treat the cognitive symptoms of the disease and in part to the development of more refined imaging tools that have made it possible to monitor the progressive changes in the structure and function of the basal forebrain system as they evolve over time. In parallel, emerging technologies allowing the derivation of authentic basal forebrain cholinergic neurons from human pluripotent stem cells are providing new powerful tools for the exploration of cholinergic neuron replacement in animal models of... (More)

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the basal forebrain cholinergic system as a target for the treatment of cognitive impairments in patients with Parkinson's disease, due in part to the need to explore novel approaches to treat the cognitive symptoms of the disease and in part to the development of more refined imaging tools that have made it possible to monitor the progressive changes in the structure and function of the basal forebrain system as they evolve over time. In parallel, emerging technologies allowing the derivation of authentic basal forebrain cholinergic neurons from human pluripotent stem cells are providing new powerful tools for the exploration of cholinergic neuron replacement in animal models of Parkinson's disease-like cognitive decline. In this review, we discuss the rationale for cholinergic cell replacement as a potential therapeutic strategy in Parkinson's disease and how this approach can be explored in rodent models of Parkinson's disease-like cognitive decline, building on insights gained from the extensive animal experimental work that was performed in rodent and primate models in the 1980s and 90s. Although therapies targeting the cholinergic system have so far been focused mainly on patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease with dementia may be a more relevant condition. In Parkinson's disease with dementia, the basal forebrain system undergoes progressive degeneration and the magnitude of cholinergic cell loss has been shown to correlate with the level of cognitive impairment. Thus, cell therapy aimed to replace the lost basal forebrain cholinergic neurons represents an interesting strategy to combat some of the major cognitive impairments in patients with Parkinson's disease dementia.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
192-IgG saporin, cognitive impairment, dementia, nucleus basalis, stem cells, transplantation
in
Brain
volume
147
issue
6
pages
16 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:38279949
  • scopus:85195083921
ISSN
0006-8950
DOI
10.1093/brain/awae026
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
97aaa37d-f02a-4d30-8252-91f739e1ff12
date added to LUP
2024-08-20 13:53:24
date last changed
2024-09-03 16:21:48
@article{97aaa37d-f02a-4d30-8252-91f739e1ff12,
  abstract     = {{<p>In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the basal forebrain cholinergic system as a target for the treatment of cognitive impairments in patients with Parkinson's disease, due in part to the need to explore novel approaches to treat the cognitive symptoms of the disease and in part to the development of more refined imaging tools that have made it possible to monitor the progressive changes in the structure and function of the basal forebrain system as they evolve over time. In parallel, emerging technologies allowing the derivation of authentic basal forebrain cholinergic neurons from human pluripotent stem cells are providing new powerful tools for the exploration of cholinergic neuron replacement in animal models of Parkinson's disease-like cognitive decline. In this review, we discuss the rationale for cholinergic cell replacement as a potential therapeutic strategy in Parkinson's disease and how this approach can be explored in rodent models of Parkinson's disease-like cognitive decline, building on insights gained from the extensive animal experimental work that was performed in rodent and primate models in the 1980s and 90s. Although therapies targeting the cholinergic system have so far been focused mainly on patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease with dementia may be a more relevant condition. In Parkinson's disease with dementia, the basal forebrain system undergoes progressive degeneration and the magnitude of cholinergic cell loss has been shown to correlate with the level of cognitive impairment. Thus, cell therapy aimed to replace the lost basal forebrain cholinergic neurons represents an interesting strategy to combat some of the major cognitive impairments in patients with Parkinson's disease dementia.</p>}},
  author       = {{Björklund, Anders and Barker, Roger A.}},
  issn         = {{0006-8950}},
  keywords     = {{192-IgG saporin; cognitive impairment; dementia; nucleus basalis; stem cells; transplantation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{1937--1952}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Brain}},
  title        = {{The basal forebrain cholinergic system as target for cell replacement therapy in Parkinson's disease}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae026}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/brain/awae026}},
  volume       = {{147}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}