Blood and cerebrospinal fluid markers in Parkinson's disease: current biomarker findings

Figures & data

Figure 1 The central panel lists cellular pathways disrupted in the pathogenesis of PD that have been targeted for development of PD biomarkers. These abnormalities are thought to arise from a combination of genetic and environmental factors, as depicted on the left side of the panel.

Abbreviation: PD, Parkinson’s disease.

Table 1 Promising Parkinson’s disease-associated biomarkers in blood and CSF

	Blood	CSF	Comments
Proteins and peptides
α-synuclein (PARK1 locus)	Variable ↑ antibodies	↓	May correlate with worsened motor disability Specific isoforms likely important
DJ-1 (PARK7 locus)	variable	↓	May depend on specific isoform
Aβ1–42		↓	May correlate with cognition
p-tau		↓	May associate with postural instability-gait disorder subtype
t-tau		↓	May associate with worsened motor disability and cognition; rate of change may correlate with progression
ApoA1		↓
IL-10, RANTES	↑
TNF-α	↑	↑
Antineuronal antibodies, antimelanin antibodies		↑
RNAs: transcriptome changes			Proteasome subunit-α type-2, laminin β-2, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family-member A1, histone cluster-1 H3e; ST13; heat shock 70 kDa protein 8, p19 S-phase kinase-associated protein 1A, huntingtin-interacting protein-2, 19S proteasomal protein PSMC4, aldehyde dehydrogenase family 1 subfamily A1
miRNAs			↓ miR-339-5p, miR-30c, miR-148b, ↑ miR-223, miR-324-3p, miR-24; ↓ miR-29a, miR-29c, miR-19a, miR-19b
Lipid-based
Malondialdehyde, F(2)-isoprostanes, cholesterol oxidation products	↑		Reflects oxidative damage
Small molecules
HVA		↑ xanthine/HvA	May associate with PD progression
8OHDG	↑	↑	Reflects oxidative DNA damage
Urate	↑	↑	May associate with progression
Hypoxanthine, hypoxanthine/xanthine ratio, and xanthosine/xanthine ratio	↓

Abbreviations: Aβ1-42, β amyloid 42 amino acid isoform; ApoA1, apolipoprotein A1; CRP, C-reactive protein; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; HVA, homovanillic acid; IL-6, interleukin-6; IL-10, interleukin 10; MCP-1, monocyte chemotactic protein 1; miRNAs, micro RNAs; p-tau, phosphorylated tau; RANTES, Regulated on Activation, Normal T cell Expressed and Secreted chemokine; t-tau, total tau; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha; 8OHdG, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine.

Figure 2 Photomicrograph of a hematoxylin-eosin-stained section taken from the substantia nigra pars compacta at autopsy of an individual with PD. A dopaminergic neuron in the center of the field contains a densely stained cytoplasmic Lewy body.

Note: This article was published in Handbook of the Neuroscience of Aging. 2009, Schwarz C, Henchcliffe C. Parkinsonian syndromes. In: Hof P, Mobbs C, Editors. 441–447. Copyright ©2009 Academic Press.²

Schwarz C, Henchcliffe C. Parkinsonian syndromes. In: Hof P, Mobbs C, editors. Handbook of the Neuroscience of Aging. Academic Press; 2009:441–447.

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