A specific protein builds up in most people’s brains Parkinson’s patients, etc learn confirmed Thursday with a new technique being hailed as a potential “game-changer” that could point to a way to test for the debilitating disease.
Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer and affects more than 8.5 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
There is no cure or way to test the disease, which is usually not diagnosed by a doctor until symptoms appear.
However, several factors have been linked to Parkinson’s, including the fact that clumps of the alpha-synuclein protein that are ‘misfolded’ – or misfolded – often accumulate in patients’ brains
The new research, published in the journal Lancet Neurologyuses a technique to amplify and then analyze clusters of the tiny protein.
The largest study of its kind included more than 1,100 participants, almost half of whom had been previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s while others were classified as at risk, and a healthy control group.
Samples of the cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds the brain and spinal cord, were taken from each participant.
The technique, called αSyn-SAA, was positive in 88 percent of all people previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
The lead author of the study, Andrew Siderowf from the University of Pennsylvania in the US, called in a statement that the technique “could have a profound impact on how we treat the condition, potentially making it possible to diagnose people earlier.”
The technique was less successful in patients who carried a gene variant known as LRRK2, which has been linked to certain forms of the disease, identifying only 68 percent of those diagnosed.
A simple test to diagnose Parkinson’s disease is still a long way off. And it remains to be seen if the technique will work using a blood sample that’s much easier to collect than cerebrospinal fluid.
Daniela Berg and Christine Klein, neurologists at the German University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, who are not involved in the research, called the finding “lays the groundwork for a biological diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease”.
The technique “is a game changer in the diagnosis, research and treatment trials of Parkinson’s disease,” they added in a linked comment piece.
Parkinson’s disease causes uncontrollable movements such as tremors, as well as sleep and mental disorders. Symptoms get worse over time, and eventually patients may have difficulty walking or speaking.
