Peripheral alpha-synuclein levels in patients with genetic and non-genetic forms of Parkinson's disease

Evangelia Emmanouilidou; Nikolaos Papagiannakis; Stella Kouloulia; Aikaterini Galaziou; Roubina Antonellou; Dimitra Papadimitriou; Aglaia Athanasiadou; Maria Bozi; Christos Koros; Matina Maniati; Kostas Vekrellis; Penelope C Ioannou; Leonidas Stefanis

doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2020.03.014

Peripheral alpha-synuclein levels in patients with genetic and non-genetic forms of Parkinson's disease

Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2020 Apr:73:35-40. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2020.03.014. Epub 2020 Mar 22.

Affiliations

¹ Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece; Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
² Center of Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece; First Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece; Second Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
³ Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
⁴ Second Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Henry Dunant Hospital Center, Greece.
⁶ Department of Biology, University of Patras Medical School, Greece.
⁷ First Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
⁸ Center of Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
⁹ Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
¹⁰ Center of Clinical Research, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece; First Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece; Second Department of Neurology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 32234683
DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2020.03.014

Abstract

Background: Variations of α-synuclein levels have been reported in serum and plasma in Parkinson's Disease (PD) Patients.

Methods: Serum and plasma were obtained from PD patients without known mutations (GU-PD, n = 124)), carriers of the A53T/G209A point mutation in the α-synuclein gene (SNCA) (n = 29), and respective age-/sex-matched controls. Levels of total α-synuclein were assessed using an in-house ELISA assay.

Results: A statistically significant increase of α-synuclein levels was found in serum, but not plasma, from GU-PD patients compared to healthy controls. A statistically significant decrease of α-synuclein levels was found in serum and plasma from symptomatic A53T mutation carriers compared to healthy controls. Plasma α-synuclein levels were modestly negatively correlated with UPDRS part III score and disease duration in A53T-PD patients.

Conclusion: Increased α-synuclein levels in serum of GU-PD patients suggest a systemic deregulation of α-synuclein homeostasis in PD. The opposite results in A53T-PD highlight the complexity of α-synuclein homeostatic regulation in PD, and suggest the possibility of reduced expression of the mutant allele.

Keywords: A53T; Alpha-synuclein; Parkinson disease; Plasma; Serum.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Parkinson Disease / blood*
Parkinson Disease / genetics*
Parkinson Disease / physiopathology*
Time Factors
alpha-Synuclein / blood*
alpha-Synuclein / genetics

Substances

SNCA protein, human
alpha-Synuclein