Promising progress for early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
The accumulation of a certain protein in the brain is associated with certain forms of Parkinson’s disease, confirmed a study published on Thursday, which could open the way to an early diagnosis of this condition, reports AFP.
The presence of a large amount of alpha-synuclein in the cerebrospinal fluid is “highly accurate for (identifying) the typical forms of Parkinson’s disease”, summarizes a study led by the American neurologist Andrew Siderowf, published in the scientific journal Lancet Neurology.
Parkinson’s disease is, along with Alzheimer’s, one of the main diseases that target the brain. However, it is not yet fully known what exactly causes this insidious disease due to which the patient gradually loses the ability to move.
However, several factors are known to be associated with Parkinson’s disease. Among them, it has been known for several years that patients often present aggregates of alpha-synuclein, writes Agerpres.
The study in Lancet Neurology, which is intended to be the first of its kind carried out on hundreds of patients, confirms that by testing for the presence of an accumulation of this protein, the disease can be largely detected.
The results are, however, of unequal precision. In patients carrying a genetic mutation – called LRRK2 – associated with certain forms of Parkinson’s, the presence of aggregates is less systematic.
Scientists are still far from achieving a “biological” test for Parkinson’s disease, which is currently diagnosed only by its visible symptoms.
It would be necessary to establish especially whether the technique works as well through blood tests, which are much easier to perform compared to those of cerebrospinal fluid.
However, this study “lays the foundations for a biological diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease”, believe, in a comment also published in Lancet Neurology, researchers who did not participate in this work, neurologists Daniela Berg and Christine Klein. In their opinion, it has now been proven that the role of alpha-synuclein is “revolutionary in the diagnosis, research and clinical trials of Parkinson’s disease”.
They find it particularly interesting that the researchers also found a high concentration of alpha-synuclein in patients who showed early signs of Parkinson’s disease, in particular a weakening of the sense of smell, without this being proven yet .
