Subgroup differences in 'brain-type' transferrin and α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy

J Biochem. 2016 Aug;160(2):87-91. doi: 10.1093/jb/mvw015. Epub 2016 Mar 11.

Abstract

Two transferrin (Tf) glycan-isoforms were previously found in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); one appears to be derived from serum (Tf-2) and the other from choroid plexus, a CSF-producing tissue (Tf-1). To analyse metabolic differences associated with the two isoforms, their ratio (Tf-2/Tf-1) was defined as the Tf index. Here we report that Tf indices of patients with tauopathies including Alzheimer's disease (2.29 + 0.64) were similar to those of neurological controls (2.07 + 0.87) (P = 0.147). In contrast, Tf indices with Parkinson's disease (PD, 3.38 ± 1.87) and multiple system atrophy (MSA, 3.15 ± 1.72) were higher than those of the controls (2.07 ± 0.87), the P-values being < 0.001 and 0.024, respectively. Tf indices of PD and MSA did not appear to be normally distributed. Indeed, detrended normal Quantile-Quantile plot analysis revealed the presence of an independent subgroup showing higher Tf indices in PD and MSA. The subgroup of PD showed higher levels of CSF α-synuclein (38.3 ± 17.8 ng/ml) than the rest (25.3 ± 11.3 ng/ml, P = 0.012). These results suggest that PD (and MSA) includes two subgroups, which show different metabolism of CSF transferrin and α-synuclein.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; cerebrospinal fluid; synucleinopathy; transferring; α-synuclein.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / blood
  • Alzheimer Disease* / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Parkinson Disease* / blood
  • Parkinson Disease* / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Protein Isoforms / blood
  • Protein Isoforms / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Transferrin / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • alpha-Synuclein* / blood
  • alpha-Synuclein* / cerebrospinal fluid

Substances

  • Protein Isoforms
  • Transferrin
  • alpha-Synuclein