EC Pharmacology and Toxicology

Review Article Volume 13 Issue 8 - 2025

Unravelling the Pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease and Cutting-Edge Treatment Strategies Leveraging Nanotechnology

Sakina Ruhi1, Sayyidah Saffa Binti Zeshan Shah2, Sana Anjum Syed2, Danish Khan3, Omayma M Attalla4 and Sohayla M Attalla2*

1Professor, Department of Biochemistry, International Medical School, Management and Science University, Malaysia

2International Medical School, Management and Science University, Malaysia

3Panineeya Institute of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences, Telangana State, Warangal, India

4Emergency Hospital, Mansoura University, Egypt

*Corresponding Author: Prof Dr Sohayla M Attalla, International Medical School, Management and Science University, Malaysia. E-mail ID: sohayla@msu.edu.my
Received: June 30, 2025; Published: August 01, 2025



Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder with a complex pathogenesis process. An understanding of the pathogenesis is key in understanding how to manage the condition and exploring the potential therapeutic targets, pharmacokinetic parameters. With better understanding of the pathogenesis of the new target of disease therapy is the novel nanoparticle-based approach. Therefore, the target of this review article is to review the nanotechnology approach in the treatment of PD.

Methodology: This review article was written referencing papers from: American Chemical Society, Bentham Science or Multidisciplinary, Elsevier Journals, Frontiers Media, Journals Hosted by National or Specialty Societies, New England Journal of Medicine, Springer Journals, Taylor and Francis/Informa Healthcare, The Lancet Group, Wiley Online Library, World Health Organization and various other journals and publishing.

Conclusion: Pre-clinical trials in animals have shown positive response and has been proved to be safe; showing enhanced drug bioavailability, reduced motor symptoms, and neuroprotection using nanocarriers. However further clinical studies are needed to assess the safety and efficacy in humans including toxicity, immune response, accumulation, and biodegradability of nanomaterials need extensive long-term evaluation. Additionally, there is a need for regulations and standardization for the safe manufacturing, scalability and quality control of the drug, during manufacturing, transport and administration. Therefore, although nanoparticles is a promising advancement in the field of Parkinson’s disease, further studies and protocols are to be developed before it can replace traditional treatment pathways.

 Keywords: Parkinson’s Disease (PD); Pathogenesis Process; Nanotechnology Approach

  1. Zhu J., et al. “Temporal trends in the prevalence of Parkinson's disease from 1980 to 2023: a systematic review and meta-analysis”. The Lancet Healthy Longevity7 (2024): e464-e479.
  2. Bloem BR., et al. “Parkinson's disease”. The Lancet10291 (2021): 2284-2303.
  3. Khalid Iqbal M., et al. “The impact of the blood-brain barrier and its dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease: contributions to pathogenesis and progression”. ACS Omega46 (2024): 45663-45672.
  4. Klepac N., et al. “An update on the management of young-onset Parkinson’s disease”. Degenerative Neurological and Neuromuscular Disease 2 (2013): 53-62.
  5. World Health Organisation. “Launch of WHO’s Parkinson Disease Technical Brief” (2022).
  6. Dorsey ER., et al. “The emerging evidence of the Parkinson pandemic”. Journal of Parkinson’s Diseases1 (2018): S3-S8.
  7. Feigin VL., et al. “Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders during 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. The Lancet Neurology11 (2017): 877-897.
  8. Parkinson J. “An essay on the shaking palsy”. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences2 (2002): 223-236.
  9. Emamzadeh FN., et al. “Parkinson’s disease: biomarkers, treatment, and risk factors”. Frontiers in Neuroscience 12 (2018): 612.
  10. Zaman V., et al. “Cellular and molecular pathophysiology in the progression of Parkinson’s disease”. Metabolic Brain Disease5 (2021): 815-827.
  11. Goetz CG. “The history of Parkinson's disease: early clinical descriptions and neurological therapies”. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine 1 (2011): a008862.
  12. Hayes MT. “Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism”. The American Journal of Medicine7 (2019): 802-807.
  13. Ascherio A and Schwarzschild MA. “The epidemiology of Parkinson's disease: risk factors and prevention”. The Lancet Neurology12 (2016): 1257-1272.
  14. Gorell JM., et al. “Multiple risk factors for Parkinson's disease”. Journal of the Neurological Sciences2 (2004): 169-174.
  15. Vaughan JR., et al. “Genetics of Parkinsonism: a review”. Annals of Human Genetics2 (2001): 111-126.
  16. Gonzalez-Latapi P., et al. “Cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease: epidemiology, clinical profile, protective and risk factors”. Behavioral Sciences5 (2021): 74.
  17. Li Y., et al. “Cell-addictive dual-target traceable nanodrug for Parkinson’s disease treatment via flotillins pathway”. Theranostics 19 (2017): 5469-5481.
  18. Sagredo GT., et al. “⍺-Synuclein levels in Parkinson's disease-Cell types and forms that contribute to pathogenesis”. Experimental Neurology 379 (2024): 114887.
  19. Ebadpour N., et al. “From mitochondrial dysfunction to neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease: pathogenesis and mitochondrial therapeutic approaches”. International ImmunopharmacologyA (2024): 113015.
  20. Simon DK., et al. “Parkinson disease epidemiology, pathology, genetics, and pathophysiology”. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 1 (2020): 1-12.
  21. Bengoa-Vergniory N., et al. “Alpha-synuclein oligomers: a new hope”. Acta Neuropathologica6 (2017): 819-838.
  22. Choong CJ and Mochizuki H. “Neuropathology of α‐synuclein in Parkinson's disease”. Neuropathology2 (2022): 93-103.
  23. Negi S., et al. “The misfolding mystery: α-syn and the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease”. Neurochemistry International 177 (2024): 105760.
  24. Han C., et al. “The impact of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and second-hand smoke on the onset of Parkinson disease: a review and meta-analysis”. Public Health 179 (2020): 100-110.
  25. Ding J., et al. “α-synuclein-lack expression rescues methamphetamine-induced mossy fiber degeneration in dorsal hippocampal CA3”. NeuroToxicology 101 (2024): 36-45.
  26. Wang H., et al. “Genetic and environmental factors in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and promising therapeutic intervention via fecal microbiota transplantation”. npj Parkinson's Disease1 (2021): 70.
  27. Choi ML and Gandhi S. “Crucial role of protein oligomerization in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases”. The FEBS Journal19 (2018): 3631-3644.
  28. Tagliafierro L and Chiba-Falek O. “Up-regulation of SNCA gene expression: implications to synucleinopathies”. Neurogenetics 3 (2016): 145-157.
  29. Streubel-Gallasch L., et al. “Parkinson’s disease-associated LRRK2 interferes with astrocyte-mediated alpha-synuclein clearance”. Molecular Neurobiology 7 (2021): 3119-3140.
  30. Zhang J., et al. “The roles of post-translational modifications on α-synuclein in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s diseases”. Frontiers in Neuroscience 13 (2019): 381.
  31. Barrett PJ and Greenamyre JT. “Post-translational modification of α-synuclein in Parkinson׳ s disease”. Brain ResearchB (2015): 247-253.
  32. Tansey MG., et al. “Neuroinflammatory mechanisms in Parkinson's disease: potential environmental triggers, pathways, and targets for early therapeutic intervention”. Experimental Neurology1 (2007): 1-25.
  33. Çınar E., et al. “Neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease and its treatment opportunities”. Balkan Medical Journal 5 (2022): 318-333.
  34. Singh G and Khatri DK. “MicroRNA-gene regulatory network of TLR signaling in neuroinflammation-induced Parkinson’s disease: a bioinformatics approach”. Network Modeling Analysis in Health Informatics and Bioinformatics 1 (2024): 7.
  35. Khot M., et al. “NLRP3 inflammasomes: a potential target to improve mitochondrial biogenesis in Parkinson's disease”. European Journal of Pharmacology 934 (2022): 175300.
  36. Gurung P., et al. “Mitochondria: diversity in the regulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome”. Trends in Molecular Medicine 3 (2015): 193-201.
  37. Rizek P., et al. “An update on the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson disease”. Canadian Medical Association Journal 16 (2016): 1157-1165.
  38. Asefy Z., et al. “Nanoparticles approaches in neurodegenerative diseases diagnosis and treatment”. Neurological Sciences7 (2021): 2653-2660.
  39. Nasrollahzadeh M., et al. “Chapter 1 - an introduction to nanotechnology”. Interface Science and Technology 28 (2019): 1-27.
  40. Marques CSF., et al. “Use of pharmaceutical nanotechnology for the treatment of leishmaniasis”. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical 52 (2019): e20180246.
  41. Torres-Ortega PV., et al. “Micro- and nanotechnology approaches to improve Parkinson’s disease therapy”. Journal of Controlled Release 295 (2019): 201-213.
  42. Kaur J., et al. “Advances in designing of polymeric micelles for biomedical application in brain related diseases”. Chemico-Biological Interactions 361 (2022): 109960.
  43. Cacciatore I., et al. “Solid lipid nanoparticles as a drug delivery system for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases”. Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery8 (2016): 1121-1131.
  44. Cai H., et al. “Lipid-based nanoparticles for drug delivery in Parkinson’s disease”. Translational Neuroscience1 (2024): 20220359.
  45. Mallick S and Choi JS. “Liposomes: Versatile and biocompatible nanovesicles for efficient biomolecules delivery”. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology1 (2014): 755-765.
  46. Bozzuto G and Molinari A. “Liposomes as nanomedical devices”. International Journal of Nanomedicine 10 (2015): 975-999.
  47. Kuo YC., et al. “Use of leptin-conjugated phosphatidic acid liposomes with resveratrol and epigallocatechin gallate to protect dopaminergic neurons against apoptosis for Parkinson’s disease therapy”. Acta Biomaterialia 119 (2021): 360-374.
  48. Pethe AM and Yadav KS. “Polymers, responsiveness and cancer therapy”. Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology 1 (2019): 395-405.
  49. Dan G., et al. “Polymeric protective agents for nanoparticles in drug delivery and targeting”. International Journal of Pharmaceutics2 (2016): 419-429.
  50. Georgieva J V., et al. “Smuggling drugs into the brain: an overview of ligands targeting transcytosis for drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier”. Pharmaceutic 4 (2014): 557-583.
  51. Cano A., et al. “Current advances in the development of novel polymeric nanoparticles for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases”. Nanomedicine12 (2020): 1239-1261.
  52. Arisoy S., et al. “In vitro and in vivo evaluation of levodopa-loaded nanoparticles for nose to brain delivery”. Pharmaceutical Development and Technology 6 (2020): 735-747.
  53. Esposito E., et al. “Solid lipid nanoparticles as delivery systems for bromocriptine”. Pharmaceutical Research 7 (2008): 1521-1530.
  54. Lewis PA and Spillane JE. “The molecular and clinical pathology of neurodegenerative disease”. Elseiver/Academic Press (2019).
  55. Demirel M., et al. “Formulation and in vitro-in vivo evaluation of piribedil solid lipid micro- and nanoparticles”. Journal of Microencapsulation3 (2001): 359-371.
  56. Bogetofte H., et al. “Levodopa therapy for Parkinson’s disease: history, current status and perspectives”. CNS and Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets8 (2020): 572-583.
  57. Tambasco N., et al. “Levodopa in Parkinson’s disease: current status and future developments”. Current Neuropharmacology8 (2018): 1239-1252.
  58. Fahn S., et al. “Levodopa and the progression of Parkinson’s disease”. New England Journal of Medicine 24 (2004): 2498-2508.
  59. Li S and Le W. “Milestones of Parkinson’s disease research: 200 years of history and beyond”. Neuroscience Bulletin5 (2017): 598-602.
  60. Karthivashan G., et al. “Lipid-based nanodelivery approaches for dopamine-replacement therapies in Parkinson’s disease: From preclinical to translational studies”. Biomaterials 232 (2020): 119704.

Sohayla M Attalla., et al. “Unravelling the Pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease and Cutting-Edge Treatment Strategies Leveraging Nanotechnology”. EC Pharmacology and Toxicology  13.8 (2025): 01-12.

ECronicon Journal

Our Services

Quick Links

Information

Creative Commons LicenseOpen Access by ECronicon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Based on a work at www.ecronicon.net