Urinary kynurenine as a biomarker for Parkinson's disease

To examine whether urine kynurenine (KYN) levels were associated with early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD), as well as the value of urine KYN as a potential biomarker in early-stage PD.

Eighty-two participants including 41 PD patients and 41 healthy controls were enrolled into this study. Urine KYN levels were measured with a KYN enzyme-linked immunoassay kit. In order to explore the correlation between some clinical parameters and urine KYN, the clinical parameters for these participants were recorded. Diagnostic value and clinical relevance of urine KYN were assessed by using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve and correlation analysis.

Urine KYN levels were significantly higher in the PD group than in the healthy group (891.95 ± 276.65 pg/ml vs. 640.11 ± 122.37 pg/ml, p = 0.000). The correlations between urine KYN levels and clinical parameters are as follows: Hoehn-Yahr stage (r = 0.676, p = 0.000), disease duration (r = 0.772, p = 0.000), Mini-Mental State Examination scores (r = -0.434, p = 0.005). There was no statistically significant correlation between urine KYN with age, low-density cholesterol (LDL), triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (TC), homocysteine (HCY), uric acid (UA), and glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The ROC analysis showed that urine KYN optimal cutoff value of 751.88 pg/ml had a sensitivity of 65.9% and a specificity of 90.2% for distinguishing between PD and controls, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.776.

Urine KYN were significantly associated with PD severity and mild cognitive impairment. Urine KYN may be a new biomarker for early-stage PD.