Molecular analysis of α-synuclein gene in Parkinson's disease in North Karnataka, India.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a disabling neurological disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Mutations analysis within the α-synuclein gene (SNCA) on chromosome 4 has been reported in the last decade.

Objective: To elucidate the possible role of SNCA gene in the pathogenesis of PD in Indian population specifically in north Karnataka.

Materials And Methods: The study subjects included 100 clinically diagnosed PD patients and 100 ethnically matched healthy controls. Isolated deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples from both were subjected to exon-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and amplicons were subjected to capillary-based direct DNA sequencing.

Result: No mutations were observed in SNCA gene of PD samples in comparison with control samples.

Conclusion: These findings support the hypothesis that the SNCA gene mutations might be population specific and may not be playing role in causing PD in all the populations.