Increased CSF DOPA Decarboxylase Correlates with Lower DaT-SPECT Binding: Analyses in Biopark and PPMI Cohorts.

Background: Recent studies identified increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) as a promising biomarker for parkinsonian disorders, suggesting a compensation to dying dopaminergic neurons. A correlation with 123I-FP-CIT-SPECT (DaT-SPECT) imaging could shed light on this link.

Objective: The objective is to assess the relationship between CSF DDC levels and DaT-SPECT binding values.

Large-scale proximity extension assay reveals CSF midkine and DOPA decarboxylase as supportive diagnostic biomarkers for Parkinson's disease.

Background: There is a need for biomarkers to support an accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been a successful biofluid for finding neurodegenerative biomarkers, and modern highly sensitive multiplexing methods offer the possibility to perform discovery studies. Using a large-scale multiplex proximity extension assay (PEA) approach, we aimed to discover novel diagnostic protein biomarkers allowing accurate discrimination of PD from both controls and atypical Parkinsonian disorders (APD).

Impaired migratory phenotype of CD4 T cells in Parkinson's disease.

Dysfunctions in the immune system appear implicated in both disease onset and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Neurodegeneration observed in the brain of PD patients has been associated with neuroinflammation that is linked to alterations in peripheral adaptive immunity, where CD4 T cells are key players. In the present study, we elucidated the immunological aspect of PD by employing a wide range of cellular assays, immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry to examine CD4 T cells.

Mitochondrial biogenesis, telomere length and cellular senescence in Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.

Progressive age is the single major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. Cellular aging markers during Parkinson's disease (PD) have been implicated in previous studies, however the majority of studies have investigated the association of individual cellular aging hallmarks with PD but not jointly. Here, we have studied the association of PD with three aging hallmarks (telomere attrition, mitochondrial dysfunction, and cellular senescence) in blood and the brain tissue.

Plasma IL-6 and IL-17A Correlate with Severity of Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease.

The nature of the inflammatory response in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains to be better understood. Here, we used highly sensitive Single Molecule Array (SIMOA) technology to measure the levels of the inflammatory mediators Interleukin 6 (IL-6), Interleukin 17A (IL-17A), Tumour Necrosis Factor α (TNFα) and Transforming Growth Factor β (TGFβ) in plasma from PD patients and age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We report that IL-17A correlates with non-motor symptoms (NMS) scores, while IL-6 positively correlates with motor scores.