Oxidative stress in Parkinson's disease

Oxidative stress contributes to the cascade leading to dopamine cell degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, oxidative stress is intimately linked to other components of the degenerative process, such as mitochondrial dysfunction, excitotoxicity, nitric oxide toxicity and inflammation. It is therefore difficult to determine whether oxidative stress leads to, or is a consequence of, these events. Oxidative damage to lipids, proteins, and DNA occurs in PD, and toxic products of oxidative damage, such as 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), can react with proteins to impair cell viability. There is convincing evidence for the involvement of nitric oxide that reacts with superoxide to produce peroxynitrite and…