Abstract
It has been hypothesized that idiopathic parkinsonism might be due to age-related attrition of dopamine neurons occurring long after an initial acute episode. We present evidence against this hypothesis, based on our finding of at least six times as many HLA-DR-positive microglia phagocytosing dopamine neurons in parkinsonian brains as in control brains. This difference indicates an active pathological process.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Adult
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Aged
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Aging / physiology*
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Cell Count
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Dopamine / metabolism*
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Glycoproteins / analysis
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Humans
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Immunohistochemistry
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Middle Aged
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Parkinson Disease, Secondary / metabolism
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Parkinson Disease, Secondary / pathology
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Parkinson Disease, Secondary / physiopathology*
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Phagocytosis*
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Substantia Nigra / analysis
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Substantia Nigra / pathology
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Substantia Nigra / physiopathology*