SNPs in Aβ clearance proteins: Lower CSF Aβ levels and earlier onset of dementia in PD.

Objective: To evaluate whether genetic variants in β-amyloid (Aβ) clearance proteins are associated with CSF levels of Aβ on a biological level and the onset of dementia on a clinical level in Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: We analyzed genetic variants known to be involved in Aβ clearance in a PD group comprising 456 patients, 103 of them with dementia. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the genes , cystatin C (), and membrane metalloendopeptidase () were evaluated in relation to demographic variables, clinical phenotypes, and CSF Aβ levels using a cross-sectional approach.

Comparable autoantibody serum levels against amyloid- and inflammation-associated proteins in Parkinson's disease patients and controls.

Naturally occurring autoantibodies (NAbs) against a number of potentially disease-associated cellular proteins, including Amyloid-beta1-42 (Abeta1-42), Alpha-synuclein (Asyn), myelin basic protein (MBP), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), and S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B) have been suggested to be associated with neurodegenerative disorders, in particular Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Whereas the (reduced) occurrence of specific NAbs in AD is widely accepted, previous literature examining the relation of these NAb titres between PD patients and controls, as well as comparing these levels with demographic and clinical parameters in PD patients have produced inconsistent findings. We therefore aimed, in a cross-sectional approach, to determine serum titres of the above NAbs in a cohort of 93 PD patients (31 of them demented) and 194 controls.