Indices of oxidative stress in Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

The cause of neuronal cell death in Parkinson's disease is unknown but there is accumulating evidence suggesting that oxidative stress may be involved in this process. Current evidence shows that in the substantia nigra there is altered iron metabolism, decreased levels of reduced glutathione and an impairment of mitochondrial complex I activity. However, these changes seem to be unique to the substantia nigra and have not been found in other areas of the brain known to be altered in Parkinson's disease, such as substantia innominata. In addition they do not appear to be related to the presence of Lewy bodies, as other areas of the brain containing Lewy bodies do not show evidence of either oxidative stress or mitochondrial dysfunction. Oxidative stress has now been demonstrated in Alzheimer's disease and its presence appears to be correlated with regions of marked pathological changes.