Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023;13(5):841-844.
doi: 10.3233/JPD-230065.

Seed Amplification Assay as a Diagnostic Tool in Newly-Diagnosed Parkinson's Disease

Affiliations

Seed Amplification Assay as a Diagnostic Tool in Newly-Diagnosed Parkinson's Disease

Linn Oftedal et al. J Parkinsons Dis. 2023.

Abstract

Seed amplification assays (SAA) are the first credible molecular assay for Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the value of SAA to support the clinicians' initial diagnosis of PD is not clear. In our study, we analyzed cerebrospinal fluid samples from 121 PD patients recruited through population screening methods and taken within a median delay of 38 days from diagnosis and 51 normal controls without neurodegenerative disease. SAA yielded a sensitivity of 82.6% (95% CI, 74.7% - 88.9%) and specificity of 88.2% (95% CI, 76.1% - 95.6%). These results highlight the potential of SAA to support the initial diagnosis of PD in clinical practice and research.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; Seed amplification assay; alpha-synuclein; biomarker; cerebrospinal fluid; diagnosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

O-BT, GA: None.

LO, JMG, JL: Hold a Swedish provisional patent application (No. 2251247-9) on the employed SAA method on which LO, JMG, and JL are named as inventor.

References

    1. Kurapova R, Chouliaras L, O’Brien JT (2022) The promise of amplification assays for accurate early detection of alpha-synucleinopathies: A review. Exp Gerontol 165, 111842. - PubMed
    1. Fairfoul G, McGuire LI, Pal S, Ironside JW, Neumann J, Christie S, Joachim C, Esiri M, Evetts SG, Rolinski M, Baig F, Ruffmann C, Wade-Martins R, Hu MT, Parkkinen L, Green AJ (2016) Alpha-synuclein RT-QuIC in the CSF of patients with alpha-synucleinopathies. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 3, 812–818. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Groveman BR, Orru CD, Hughson AG, Raymond LD, Zanusso G, Ghetti B, Campbell KJ, Safar J, Galasko D, Caughey B (2018) Rapid and ultra-sensitive quantitation of disease-associated alpha-synuclein seeds in brain and cerebrospinal fluid by alphaSyn RT-QuIC. Acta Neuropathol Commun 6, 7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kang UJ, Boehme AK, Fairfoul G, Shahnawaz M, Ma TC, Hutten SJ, Green A, Soto C (2019) Comparative study of cerebrospinal fluid alpha-synuclein seeding aggregation assays for diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 34, 536–544. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rossi M, Candelise N, Baiardi S, Capellari S, Giannini G, Orru CD, Antelmi E, Mammana A, Hughson AG, Calandra-Buonaura G, Ladogana A, Plazzi G, Cortelli P, Caughey B, Parchi P (2020) Ultrasensitive RT-QuIC assay with high sensitivity and specificity for Lewy body-associated synucleinopathies. Acta Neuropathol 140, 49–62. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms