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Published on: May 30, 2015
α-Synuclein in blood cells differentiates Parkinson's disease from healthy controls
Suaad Abd Elhadi1, Jessica Grigoletto1, Maura Poli2
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IMRIC, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Ein Kerem, 9112001, Jerusalem, Israel.
Objective:
To determine whether blood cells expressed α-Syn can differentiate Parkinson's disease (PD) from healthy controls (HC).
Methods:
The concentrations of α-Syn were determined in samples of blood cell pellets using a quantitative Lipid-ELISA assay. In addition, the levels of total protein, hemoglobin, iron and H-ferritin were determined. The study includes samples from the Biofind cohort (n = 46 PD and 45 HC) and results were validated with an additional cohort (n = 35 PD and 28 HC).
Results:
A composite biomarker consisting of the concentrations of total α-Syn, proteinase-K resistant (PKres ) α-Syn and phospho-Serine 129 α-Syn (PSer 129), is designed based on the analysis of the discovery BioFIND cohort. This composite biomarker differentiates a PD subgroup, presenting motor symptoms without dementia from a HC group, with a convincing accuracy, represented by an AUC = 0.81 (95% CI, 0.71 to 0.92). Closely similar results were obtained for the validation cohort, that is, AUC = 0.81, (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.94).
Interpretation:
Our results demonstrate the potential usefulness of blood cells expressed α-Syn as a biomarker for PD.
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