Inflammatory Blood Biomarkers Are Associated with Long-Term Clinical Disease Severity in Parkinson's Disease.

An altered immune response has been identified as a pathophysiological factor in Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to identify blood immunity-associated proteins that discriminate PD from controls and that are associated with long-term disease severity in PD patients. Immune response-derived proteins in blood plasma were measured using Proximity Extension Technology by OLINK in a cohort of PD patients (N = 66) and age-matched healthy controls (N = 52).

CSF Biomarkers Reflecting Protein Pathology and Axonal Degeneration Are Associated with Memory, Attentional, and Executive Functioning in Early-Stage Parkinson's Disease.

In early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD), cognitive impairment is common, and a variety of cognitive domains including memory, attention, and executive functioning may be affected. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers are potential markers of cognitive functioning. We aimed to explore whether CSF α-synuclein species, neurofilament light chain, amyloid-β, and tau are associated with cognitive performance in early-stage PD patients.

Contactin-1 Is Reduced in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Parkinson's Disease Patients and Is Present within Lewy Bodies.

Synaptic degeneration is an early phenomenon in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. We aimed to investigate whether levels of synaptic proteins contactin-1 and contactin-2 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of PD patients are reduced compared to dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) patients and controls and to evaluate their relationship with α-synuclein aggregation. Contactin-1 and -2 were measured in CSF from PD patients ( 58), DLB patients ( 72) and age-matched controls ( 90).

CSF or serum neurofilament light added to α-Synuclein panel discriminates Parkinson's from controls.

Background: Neurofilament light chain is a marker of axonal damage and is of interest as a biofluid biomarker for PD. The objective of this study was to investigate whether CSF or serum neurofilament contributes to a combination of CSF biomarkers in defining the optimal biomarker panel for discriminating PD patients from healthy controls. In addition, we aimed to assess whether CSF and/or serum neurofilament levels are associated with clinical measures of disease severity.

Greater motor progression in patients with Parkinson disease who carry LRRK2 risk variants.

Objectives: In a longitudinal follow-up study, we compared the clinical features and motor progression of patients with Parkinson disease (PD) who are carriers of the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene risk variants with patients who are noncarriers.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated a cohort of patients with PD for their clinical characteristics, disease severity, and LRRK2 genotype. Carriers of risk variants (G2385R, R1628P, S1647T) and noncarriers were classified separately.

Prognostic factors for early mortality in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: There are few large studies that have evaluated prognostic factors for mortality in Parkinson's disease (PD). This large study aimed to identify demographic and clinical features associated with early mortality in PD.

Methods: PD patients at the National Neuroscience Institute were identified from the Movement Disorders Database from which demographic information and prospectively collected baseline disease characteristics were obtained.