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| Version | Summary | Created by | Modification | Content Size | Created at | Operation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simona Bungău | + 1831 word(s) | 1831 | 2021-07-30 04:36:53 | | | |
| 2 | Catherine Yang | Meta information modification | 1831 | 2021-08-02 10:33:41 | | |
The astrocytes and neuronal cells are considered to be neuroprotective, whereas the infiltrating macrophages and activated microglia are considered to be neurotoxic. Therefore, multiple products of KP can have neuroprotective, neurotoxic, and immunomodulatory effects. QUIN, an excitotoxin, is reported to be the most significant among them, which results in the death of neurons.
The greatest obstacle associated with neurodegenerative disorders is that they are incurable, and the deterioration is progressive with time and age. These pathologies vary in symptoms, pathological features, and drug candidates. Parkinson’s disease (PD), as well as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), are considered to be the most prevalent among the neurodegeneration-related disorders [1]. Recently, PD was reported to affect about 6.1 million people, in comparison to 2.5 million people in 1990 [2]. Accounting for the 21.7% of age standardized disease prevalence rate, the disease progressively accelerated during all these years. In 2016, PD led to 211,296 deaths around the globe [3]. The symptoms in PD include tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, and disrupted posture, parallel to retardation in mental processing, speech problems, memory losses, and leaning inability.
The prime pathological features of the disease include loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and alleviated dopamine (DA) levels in the striatum [4][5]; however, the specific cause of the disease is still to be investigated. When the loss of dopaminergic neurons reaches 70% to 80%, it is marked with the appearance of associated signs and symptoms [2]. Therefore, this period (from the beginning of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain to the identification of clinical signs and symptoms) marks the basis for development of effective treatment therapies for the disease. Despite the availability of numerous treatment options, no therapy is completely effective for this disorder. The therapies available for the disease are associated with hindrances, such as inability to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), side effects, limited life span, etc., alongside primary challenges such as the development of sensitive and reliable of biomarkers for disease detection [6][7]. Thus, there is a dire need to develop novel treatment options for PD, with greater specificity and selectivity for the disease targets and limited side effects.
The enzymes associated with KP have been recognized as reliable and promising target candidates for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Ageing and inflammation can alter the KP metabolism and availability of TRP [8], thus elevating the susceptibility towards age-dependent neurological disorders, including PD [9][10]. Chronic inflammation of the intestine, gut microbiota changes, and α-synuclein aggregation are the pivotal features of PD pathogenesis [11].

The physiological concentration of QUIN in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain is approximately 100 nM, and it exhibits hormesis action. QUIN treatment results in elevation of NAD+ production, within the human neuronal cells, alongside enhanced proliferation of stem cells [34]. However, the concentration of QUIN is increased to 1200 nM in disease conditions, which can lead to acute, chronic, or progressively severe functions of neurons or death of neuronal cells by a minimum of nine varying processes [35]. At pathological concentrations, between 150 to 1200 nM, QUIN functions as NMDA receptor agonists. Previously, two studies reported the selective actions of QUIN on NMDA receptor, along with differences in actions, mediated by QUIN on NMDA, at particular neuronal areas [36]. Vandresen-Filho et al. confirmed the above statement and reported that the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and striatum have varying susceptibility towards QUIN induced oxidative stress [37]. The neuronal cells contained in the striatum, hippocampus, and neocortex, exhibit sensitivity towards QUIN; however, the neurons present in the spinal cord and cerebellar region are comparatively less sensitive. These differences are associated with alterations in the configurations of the NMDA receptor [38].
It was depicted that the motor neuron could be completely protected from QUIN-mediated excitotoxicity by using NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antagonist combinations [39]. QUIN has the ability to cause elevated micro-environment glutamate levels and neurotoxicity by enhancing the release of glutamate by neuronal cells, blocking its astrocyte-mediated uptake and inhibiting astroglial glutamine synthetase enzyme [40].
Oxidative stress is induced in the astrocytes and neuronal cells by QUIN, which results in the death of the glial cells and neurons, by energy restriction. The phosphorylation of cellular structural proteins, such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in astrocytes and neurofilament in neuronal cells are elevated by QUIN, resulting in the destabilization of the cytoskeleton [41][42]. It has been reported that the tau phosphorylation in neuronal cells in humans is elevated by QUIN, which further co-localizes with hyperphosphorylated tau in neuronal cells in cortex of AD-affected neuronal tissue [42].
The cellular agents, which provide support to the neuronal cells, i.e., astrocytes, are also altered by QUIN, which also dysregulated astroglial functions and promote death of the glial cells [43]. As a result, dysregulated function and death of neuronal cells take place [28]. Furthermore, QUIN exerts proinflammatory effect on astrocytes, followed by generation of proinflammatory cytokines as well as chemokines, such as monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), IL-1β, and IL-8 in astrocytes [40]. The activity of glutamine synthetase is retarded by QUIN in a dose dependent manner in the astrocytes in humans, which leads to disruption of glutamine/glutamate cycle [40].