Work

Alpha-Synuclein in the Gastrointestinal Tract as a Potential Biomarker for Early Detection of Parkinson’s Disease

Year: 2020

Type: review

Abstract: The primary pathogenesis associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs in peripheral tissues several years before the onset of typical motor symptoms. Early and reliable diagnosis of PD could provide new treatment options for PD patients and improve their quality of life. At present, however, diagnosis relies mainly on clinical symptoms, and definitive diagnosis is still based on postmortem pathological confirmation of dopaminergic neuronal degeneration. In addition, the similarity of the clinical, cognitive, and neuropathological features of PD with other neurodegenerative diseases calls for new biomarkers, suitable for differential diagnosis. Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) is a potential PD biomarker, due to its close connection with the pathogenesis of the disease. Here we summarize the currently available information on the possible use of α-Syn as a biomarker of early stages of PD in gastrointestinal (GI) tissues, highlight its potential to distinguish PD and other neurodegenerative diseases, and suggest alternative methods (primarily developed for other tissue analysis) that could improve α-Syn detection procedures or diagnostic methods in general.

Source: International Journal of Molecular Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/ijms21228666

Authors: Dominika Fricova, Jana Harsanyiova, Alzbeta Kralova Trancikova

Institutions: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Neuroimmunology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava

Language: English

Topic: Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments

Subfield: Neurology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,112