Early noninvasive diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases

This paper reviews the contemporary trends in the pathobiochemistry of neurodegenerative disorders with respect to their early predictive diagnosis and possible treatment interventions. If we consider the current epidemiological data related to neurodegenerative disorders, medicine is going to face in the near future latent pandemic situations. The introduction puts an emphasis on the emerging importance of one major cluster of neurodegenerative disorders: diseases of the abnormal protein beta-conformation. The cluster includes such significant diseases as Alzheimer, Pick, Huntington, Parkinson disease, as well as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease). The pathogenetic mechanisms in the determination of this group of disorders are explored with an emphasis on the impairment of post-synthetic chaperone correction. The central role of a number of such protein products is discussed. In particular the pathobiochemical mechanisms concerning the formation of beta-amyloid, alpha and beta synucleins, scrapie isoform of the prion protein are presented. A new diagnostic principle allowing the early and specific diagnosis of the conformation diseases protein via amplification techniques is presented. These methods compete in sensitivity with the PCR methods and shows promises for effective treatment. In conclusion, beta-pathies are considered a suitable example for the modern concept of cluster and prototype diagnosis in medicine and especially in clinical neurosciences.