April 2, 2015 9:00
New research has determined that a simple skin biopsy may be able to detect physical indicators of both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers from the University of San Luis Patosi in San Luis, Mexico are presenting their study at the American Academy of Neurology’s 67th Annual Meeting. Using skin biopsies from both healthy individuals and those with various neurological diseases, researchers found that those with Parkinson’s possessed seven times the typical amount of tau proteins while those with Alzheimer’s presented eight times the usual amount of alpha-synuclein protein. “More research is needed to confirm these results, but the findings are exciting because we could potentially begin to use skin biopsies from living patients to study and learn more about these diseases. This also means tissue will be much more readily available for scientists to study,” said the lead researcher of the study. “This procedure could be used to study not only Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, but also other neurodegenerative diseases.” To learn more about this study:
Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C. –
Scientists have discovered a skin test that may
shed new light on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, according to a study
released today will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 67th
Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 18 to 25, 2015.
The study showed that skin biopsies can be used
to detect elevated levels of abnormal proteins found in the two diseases.
“Until now, pathological confirmation was not
possible without a brain biopsy, so these diseases often go unrecognized until
after the disease has progressed,” said study author Ildefonso Rodriguez-Leyva,
MD, at Central Hospital at the University of San Luis Potosi in San Luis
Potosi, Mexico. “We hypothesized that since skin has the same origin as brain
tissue while in the embryo that they might also show the same abnormal
proteins. This new test offers a potential biomarker that may allow doctors to
identify and diagnose these diseases earlier on.”
For the study, researchers took skin biopsies
from 20 people with Alzheimer’s disease, 16 with Parkinson’s disease and 17
with dementia caused by other conditions and compared them to 12 healthy people
in the same age group. They tested these skin samples to see if specific types
of altered proteins were found—ones that indicate a person has Alzheimer’s or
Parkinson’s.
As compared to healthy patients and ones with
dementia caused by other conditions, those with both Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s had seven times higher levels of the tau protein. People with
Parkinson’s also had an eight times higher level of alpha-synuclein protein
than the healthy control group.
Alzheimer’s disease is ranked as the sixth
leading cause of death in the United States, and 5.4 million Americans are
currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Parkinson’s disease affects one
million Americans, with at least 60,000 new cases reported annually each year.
“More research is needed to confirm these
results, but the findings are exciting because we could potentially begin to
use skin biopsies from living patients to study and learn more about these
diseases. This also means tissue will be much more readily available for
scientists to study,” said Rodriguez-Leyva. “This procedure could be used to
study not only Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, but also other neurodegenerative
diseases.”
The study was supported by the National Council
of Science and Technology of Mexico.
Learn more about Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
diseases at www.aan.com/patients.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association
of more than 28,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated
to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A
neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and
managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease,
stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease and
epilepsy
http://www.aansneurosurgeon.org/2015/04/02/skin-test-may-shed-new-light-on-alzheimers-and-parkinsons-disease/
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