Biofluid Markers and Tissue Biopsies Analyses for the Prodromal and Earliest Phase of Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

The recent development of new methods to detect misfolded α-synuclein (αSyn) aggregates in biofluids and tissue biopsies in the earliest Parkinson's disease (PD) phases is dramatically challenging the biological definition of PD. The αSyn seed amplification methods in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed high sensitivity and specificity for early diagnosis of PD and Lewy bodies disorders. Several studies in isolated REM sleep behavior disorders and other at-risk populations also demonstrated a high prevalence of CSF αSyn positivity and its potential value in predicting the phenoconversion to clinically manifested diseases. Growing evidence exists for αSyn aggregates in olfactory mucosa, skin, and other tissues in subjects with PD or at-risk subjects. DOPA decarboxylase and numerous other candidates have been additionally proposed for either diagnostic or prognostic purposes in earliest PD phases. The newly described αSyn detection in blood, through its quantification in neuronally-derived exosome vesicles, represents a technical challenge that could open a new scenario for the biological diagnosis of PD. Despite this growing evidence in the field, most of method of αSyn detection and markers still need to be validated in ongoing longitudinal studies through an accurate assessment of different prodromal disease subtypes and scenarios before being definitively implemented in clinical settings.

Keywords: DOPA decarboxylase; cerebrospinal fluid; plasma biomarkers; prodromal Parkinson’s disease; seed amplification assays; α-synuclein.

Fig. 1

Potential biofluid and tissue markers of α-Synucleinopathies. Markers have been differentiated based on high sensitivity (H) when the mean diagnostic accuracy of the markers is > 80%, I intermediate accuracy when < 80%. (P) indicated prognostic markers. DD, differential diagnosis; NfL, neurofibrillary light chain; SAA seed amplification assay.