Immunology

Biography

Biography: Mona Mostafa Farid Ganem

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative and neuro-inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system, it has been known as movement disorder, also it is becoming recognized that for its non-motor characteristics that includes cognitive difficulties. Cognitive function is broadly defined as an intellectual pro­cess by which one becomes aware, perceives or compre­hends ideas. It involves all aspects of perception, thinking, rea­soning and remembering. Cognitive impairment means a deterioration of the mental processes such as memory, decision, understanding and reasoning. Cognitive impairment may be associated with behavioral disorders. There are different cognitive domains that accompany Parkinson's disease, the most common affected domains include: Executive functions, attention, learning and memory. Many studies reported that Bee venom therapy has anti-inflammatory and anti-neurodegenerative effects that improve PD symptoms. Also it attenuates the activation of the microglial response, reduces expression of the inflammation markers and reducing glutamatergic cell toxicity. Also it was reported that Bee venom therapy plays an important role in improving cognitive functions through blocking small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK channels), also can increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).