ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 (ONLINE): Parkinson\u2019s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that results in tremors, muscle stiffness, slow movement, and impaired balance and coordination.
\nIt is most common in people over the age of 60 years, although early-onset Parkinson\u2019s, which often has a genetic component, can affect people under 50 years old.<\/p>\n
Symptoms occur when nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls movement are damaged or die, and stop producing the neurotransmitter dopamine, leading to problems with movement.
\nThe damage is caused when a protein, alpha-synucleinTrusted Source, found predominantly at synapses \u2014 the junctions between nerve cells \u2014 clumps together to form fibrils. These fibrils, in turn, disrupt mechanical cell function or are toxic to the cells.
\nTypically, physicians diagnose Parkinson\u2019s by taking a person\u2019s medical history, assessing their symptoms, and carrying out a neurological examination. However, a firm diagnosis usually depends on the patient\u2019s response to medication for Parkinson\u2019s disease.
\nNow, a research team from Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard has developed a molecular assay test that detects alpha-synuclein fibrils in samples of brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid from people with Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
The researchers hope this technique may lead to clinical tests that can diagnose Parkinson\u2019s disease in its very early stages, and might even lead to more effective treatments.
\nTheir findings are published in PNAS.
\nDr. Michael S. Okun, executive director at the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida Health, and medical advisor for Parkinson\u2019s Foundation, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today:
\n\u201cThese authors presented a novel approach for the development of what is called a digital seed amplification assay. The advantage of this approach is measuring neurodegenerative seeding at miniscule levels. Importantly, the authors used brain tissue and spinal fluid from folks with Parkinson\u2019s disease and multiple system atrophy and they were able to detect and separate these aggregates.\u201d
\nA new molecular test for Parkinson\u2019s?<\/p>\n
The researchers used a digital alpha-synuclein seed amplification assayTrusted Source (SAA) \u2014 a technique that multiplies the number of alpha-synuclein molecules so they can be detected \u2014 with samples taken from brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Previous studiesTrusted Source have used similar techniques, but this study takes the method further.
\nBy compartimentalizing the reaction into microwells, droplets, or hydrogel microcapsulesTrusted Source, the researchers were able to extend the technique to quantify even minute amounts of alpha-synuclein.<\/p>\n
In a press release, corresponding author Dr. David Walt, of the Department of Pathology at the Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital and a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute, stated that \u201c[t]his work is an important step toward our goal to develop a method to detect and quantify a key marker of Parkinson\u2019s disease to help clinicians identify patients much earlier.\u201d
\nEarly diagnosis potential
\n\u201cHaving a biomarker that we can quantify could help us identify new drug candidates, and test their effects in more targeted patient cohorts at early stages of the diseases,\u201d Dr. Walt added in the press release.
\nBy the time clinical symptoms appear, Parkinson\u2019s disease has caused significant, irreversible damage in the brain. The symptoms are also often identical to those of other neurological disorders, so a test that can differentiate the disorders early would be a huge step forward.<\/p>\n
The researchers suggest that their technique could turn the disease-causing alpha-synuclein into an early biomarker for detecting not only Parkinson\u2019s disease but also multiple system atrophy and dementia with Lewy bodies.
\nWhile their technique worked well on brain and CSF samples, for clinical diagnosis blood and other bodily fluids are much easier to sample. The researchers aim to improve the sensitivity of the technique to enable it to detect alpha-synuclein in these fluids.
\nDr. Okun was encouraged by their findings, telling MNT that, \u201c[i]f this technique can be refined to reliably diagnose and separate Parkinson\u2019s and multiple system atrophy early in the disease process, and do it with a simple blood test, it could have a big impact.\u201d
\nEarlier, more effective treatments for Parkinson\u2019s?
\nThe team also looked at whether their technique might be useful for screening potential treatments for these disorders, and used to distinguish between the different alpha-synuclein fibril structures found in Parkinson\u2019s disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies.<\/p>\n
Study co-first author Dr. Zoe Swank, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Walt lab, said in a press release that \u201c[a]pplying the assays as a drug discovery tool could facilitate the search for promising drug candidates that more efficiently inhibit fibril formation, or even help us identify new drug targets that enable or stimulate [alpha]-synuclein aggregation in the body.\u201d
\nAlthough in the early days, these findings mark a step forward in the search for effective diagnostics and treatments for Parkinson\u2019s disease, which affects some 10 million people worldwide. It may also have potential for drug screening for this and related conditions, such as multiple system atrophy and dementia with Lewy bodies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hope is that they [the researchers] will be able to develop and to refine early molecular diagnostics that one day may improve clinical trials and facilitate drug screening for neurotherapeutics. It is too early to know if this approach will have impact.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 (ONLINE): Parkinson\u2019s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that results in tremors, muscle stiffness, slow movement, and impaired balance and coordination. It is most common in people over the age of 60 years, although early-onset Parkinson\u2019s, which often has a genetic component, can […]<\/p>\n
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