Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a gradually worsening neurodegenerative disorder affecting >1% of the population ≥65 years of age, with a prevalence expected to double by 2030. The consequences of PD extend beyond individual suffering, leading to considerable economic and societal costs. Treatment methods currently focus primarily on pharmacological interventions and deep brain stimulation, though the latter faces technical challenges limiting its widespread adoption. Therefore, drug therapy is still the primary choice for PD. PD drugs, including levodopa (a dopamine [DA] precursor drug), DA receptor excitation agents, and monoamine oxidase B inhibitors, mainly target DA. Nevertheless, during the late treatment stages, the above drugs elicit dyskinesia and psychiatric symptoms because of the loss of dopaminergic neurons. Therefore, limited drug dosage forms and single treatment strategies are major obstacles limiting the treatment of PD. Thus, it is necessary to develop advanced noninvasive treatments for patients with PD. The most critical problem in the treatment of PD is brain neuronal protection, which can be overcome by regulating the neuroinflammation and immune microenvironment. Neuroinflammation is associated with cytokine and chemokine release, in which cell communications, especially the crosstalk between neurons and glial cells, play an irreplaceable role. Advances in novel therapeutic strategies, such as nanotherapy, cell therapy, etc., have shed light on drug delivery, immune regulation, and oxidative stress control, as well as novel and effective treatment methods for neurodegenerative diseases.

This Research Topic aims to enhance understanding of inflammation and immune response mechanisms in Parkinson’s Disease, especially examining the interplay between nerve cells within PD pathology. The goal is to explore how various treatment modalities can influence these interactions and thus affect disease outcomes. Insights into new nanotherapies, cellular therapies, and integrated biochemical strategies hold the potential to mitigate behavioral and pathological symptoms of PD through effective immune regulation.

We welcome submissions of reviews, mini-reviews, reports, and original research articles of preclinical and clinical research that cover, but are not limited to, the following subtopics:
1. The role of communications between microglia, astrocytes, and neurons in inflammatory processes of PD.
2. The role of vital proteins and cytokines in cell communications, such as G protein and its receptors, in the inflammatory and immune response process of PD.
3. Study on therapeutic strategies and relevant mechanisms of nanotechnology in neuroinflammation and immunity regulation in PD.
4. Applications and relevant mechanisms of cellular therapy strategies targeting the immune system such as extracellular vesicles in PD.
5. The metabolic processes of nanomedicine in the body and the brain of PD patients (or models) and its mechanism with drug-induced neuroinflammation and immune responses.

Please Note: Manuscripts of traditional/complementary medicine are out of scope for this journal unless their main focus is on the immune system.

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Frontiers in Immunology

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