Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 19, 2026
Detection of Disease-associated α-synuclein by Enhanced ELISA in the Brain of Transgenic Mice Overexpressing Human A53T Mutated α-synuclein
Published on: May 30, 2015
Similar α-Synuclein staining in the colon mucosa in patients with Parkinson's disease and controls
Laurent Antunes1, Sonia Frasquilho1, Marek Ostaszewski1,2
1Department of Pathology, Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg, Luxembourg-City, Luxembourg.
Background:
The gut is proposed as a starting point of idiopathic IPD, but the presence of α-synuclein in the IPD colon mucosa is debated.
Objectives:
The objective of this study was to evaluate if α-synuclein in the colon mucosa can serve as a biomarker of IPD.
Methods:
Immunohistochemistry was used to locate and quantify in a blinded approach α-synuclein in the mucosa from biopsies of the right and left colon in 19 IPD patients and 8 controls.
Results:
Total α-synuclein was present in all but 1 IPD patients and in all controls; phosphorylated α-synuclein was present in all subjects. There was no intensity difference depending on disease status. Staining of total α-synuclein was stronger in the right colon (p = .04).
Conclusions:
Conventional immunohistochemistry α-synuclein staining in colon mucosal biopsies cannot serve as a biomarker of idiopathic PD. These findings do not contradict the assumption of disease starting in the colon, and a colon segment-specific risk for disease initiation can still be hypothesized. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
Related Concept Videos
01:37Neural Regulation
01:15Parkinson's Disease: Overview
01:24Parkinson's Disease: Treatment
Parkinson's Disease is primarily a result of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. The cornerstone of...