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. 2022 May;37(5):1059-1063.
doi: 10.1002/mds.28976. Epub 2022 Mar 12.

Diagnostic Value of Salivary Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion in Parkinson's Disease and Multiple System Atrophy

Mingyue Luan #  1   2 , Yunchuang Sun #  1 , Jing Chen  1 , Yanyan Jiang  1 , Fan Li  1 , Luhua Wei  1 , Wei Sun  1 , Jinfa Ma  3   4 , Lu Song  3 , Jianghong Liu  3 , Bing Liu  5 , Yaohua Pei  6 , Zhaoxia Wang  1   2 , Li Zhu  3   4 , Jianwen Deng  1   2
Affiliations

Diagnostic Value of Salivary Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion in Parkinson's Disease and Multiple System Atrophy

Mingyue Luan et al. Mov Disord. 2022 May.

Abstract

Background: Aggregation of α-synuclein (oligomeric α-syn) has been considered as the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA). Studies showed oligomeric α-syn/total α-syn ratio was increased in the saliva of patients with PD, suggesting that seeding activity of salivary oligomeric α-syn may be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of PD and MSA.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of salivary α-syn seeding activity in patients with PD and MSA.

Methods: A total of 75 patients with PD, 18 patients with MSA, and 36 nonneurodegenerative healthy control subjects underwent salivary α-syn real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay.

Results: Salivary α-syn RT-QuIC assay distinguished patients with PD with 76.0% sensitivity (95% confidence interval [CI], 66.1-85.9) and 94.4% specificity (95% CI, 86.6-100.0). RT-QuIC assay sensitivity reached 61.1% (95% CI, 36.2-86.1) in patients with MSA. No significant differences were observed in the diameter of salivary α-syn fibrils examined by electron microscopy and in thioflavin T fluorescence intensity of salivary α-syn fibrils detected by RT-QuIC assay between patients with PD and MSA. Notably, the lag phase of RT-QuIC assay from patients with PD was significantly shorter than that of patients with MSA, which might be clinically applicable to the discrimination between PD and MSA.

Conclusions: Salivary α-syn seeding activity may serve as a novel biomarker for the clinical diagnosis of PD and MSA.© 2022 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society © 2022 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; RT-QuIC; multiple system atrophy; real-time quaking-induced conversion assay; saliva; seed amplification assay.

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