Alpha-Synuclein in the Gastrointestinal Tract as a Potential Biomarker for Early Detection of Parkinson's Disease

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 21; no. 22; p. 8666
• Main Authors: Fricova, Dominika, Harsanyiova, Jana, Kralova Trancikova, Alzbeta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.11.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; alpha-synuclein; alpha-Synuclein - metabolism; biomarker; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - metabolism; Degeneration; Dementia; Diagnosis; Diagnosis, Differential; Diagnostic systems; Differential diagnosis; Disease; Dopamine receptors; Early Diagnosis; Gastrointestinal system; Gastrointestinal tract; Gastrointestinal Tract - metabolism; Gene expression; Humans; MicroRNAs; Mutation; Neurodegeneration; oligomeric alpha-synuclein; Parkinson Disease - diagnosis; Parkinson Disease - metabolism; Parkinson's disease; Pathogenesis; Phosphorylation; Physiology; PMCA; Proteins; Quality of life; Review; Signs and symptoms; Synuclein; Transgenic animals; oligomeric alpha-synuclein; gastrointestinal tract; LCO; microRNA; alpha-synuclein; biomarker; PMCA; Parkinson’s disease
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms21228666

The primary pathogenesis associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs in peripheral tissues several years before the onset of typical motor symptoms. Early and reliable diagnosis of PD could provide new treatment options for PD patients and improve their quality of life. At present, however, diagnosis relies mainly on clinical symptoms, and definitive diagnosis is still based on postmortem pathological confirmation of dopaminergic neuronal degeneration. In addition, the similarity of the clinical, cognitive, and neuropathological features of PD with other neurodegenerative diseases calls for new biomarkers, suitable for differential diagnosis. Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) is a potential PD biomarker, due to its close connection with the pathogenesis of the disease. Here we summarize the currently available information on the possible use of α-Syn as a biomarker of early stages of PD in gastrointestinal (GI) tissues, highlight its potential to distinguish PD and other neurodegenerative diseases, and suggest alternative methods (primarily developed for other tissue analysis) that could improve α-Syn detection procedures or diagnostic methods in general.