MDS 2021 | Anti-inflammatory strategies for neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease

Etienne Hirsch, PhD, Institut du Cerveau-ICM, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France, discusses the promise of neuroprotective treatments based on anti-inflammatory strategies in Parkinson’s disease. Despite long-standing evidence implicating inflammatory mechanisms in PD pathology, the idea has only recently gained acceptance. In recent years there has been huge growth in this field of investigation and the role of the immune system in PD is now a substantial research focus. Prof. Hirsch discusses the lack of success in clinical trials to date and the need for new drugs that are efficacious at their target site in the brain without causing serious adverse events in the periphery. This interview took place during the 2021 International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders.