What can Parkinson’s disease teach us about COVID-19?
Philip W. Tipton, Zbigniew K. Wszołek
Abstract
The pandemic potential of coronaviruses (CoV) has now been realised with coronavirus disease 19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2). This infection began in December 2019 in Wuhan, China before spreading across the globe in a matter of weeks. At the time of this submission, there were more than 1.8 million cases and 119,000 deaths worldwide The global health community is working furiously to gain a better understanding of COVID-19 disease mechanisms and to develop effective preventative and treatment strategies. Elderly individuals and those with comorbidities, especially cardiovascular, are at an increased risk of infection and poor outcomes. Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) often fall into this high-risk category, but may be at even greater risk due to SARS-CoV-2 neuronal tropism. We here highlight evidence to support this claim, and propose the study of two widely used PD medications for the treatment of COVID-19.