I would be cautious with saying that Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused
by the loss of dopamine production. The pathogenesis of PD is rather complex and
not yet quite understood. But let’s say the majority of the symptoms in PD can
be attributed to the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra
(SNpc).
There are quite a few diseases with disturbances in neurotransmitter
production. Here are some examples:
Huntington’s disease is characterized by
the degeneration of neurons predominantly in another part of the basal ganglia
- the striatum, where neurons producing gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)
are preferentially affected. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, and
reduction in its content results in uncontrolled movement, known as chorea.
Reduction in GABA-mediated inhibition also plays a role in epilepsy.
Acetylcholine (ACh) is a neurotransmitter
implicated in learning and memory processing, and cholinergic neurons (among
others) are severely affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
Perhaps most famously, reduction
in serotonin signalling is a factor in major
depression, evidenced best by the effectiveness of serotonin reuptake
inhibitors in treatment of depression.
Reference: Minja Belić
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