AI Article Synopsis
- Parkinson's disease (PD) is marked by the loss of dopamine-producing cells and the buildup of α-synuclein in the retina, which can be studied through advanced imaging techniques.
- A study involving 101 PD patients and 46 healthy controls used optical coherence tomography to assess the thickness of retinal layers, revealing no significant difference in certain nerve fiber layers but a notable reduction in macular volume among PD patients.
- The study found that the outer plexiform layer (OPL) was thicker in PD subjects, suggesting it may serve as a biomarker for α-synuclein aggregation, which has important implications for understanding and diagnosing the disease.
Article Abstract
Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with dopaminergic cell loss and α-synuclein aggregation in Lewy bodies, which has been demonstrated in the retina.
Methods: We performed a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) study in patients with PD and healthy controls to measure the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and macular volume. Intra-retinal segmentation was performed to measure the volume of the retinal nerve fiber (RNFL), ganglion cell (GCL), inner plexiform (IPL), inner nuclear (INL), outer plexiform (OPL), and outer nuclear (ONL) layers. Analysis was carried out blinded to the clinical status of study participants.
Results: 101 PD and 46 healthy control eyes were included in the study. In PD patients, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer was not significantly thinner (96.95 μm vs 94.42 μm, p=0.08) but macular volume was (8.58 mm3 vs 8.33 mm3, p=0.0002). Intra-retinal segmentation showed that PD subjects have reduced GCL, IPL, INL and ONL volumes. In contrast, the OPL volume was significantly increased (0.81 mm3 vs 0.78 mm3 p=0.0214).
Conclusions: Thickening of the OPL is a novel finding which may correspond to the localization of α-synuclein in the OPL of PD patients. We hypothesize that the enlargement of the OPL may represent a potential biomarker of α-synuclein aggregation in PD. This may have significant clinical implications.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2015.05.007 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!