Parkinson's: New test could tell who is at risk

Aug. 9, 2016

SINGAPORE - Scientists in Singapore have come up with a potential method for gauging a person's risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Research by a National University of Singapore (NUS) team could lead to cheaper and non-invasive tests for the neuro- degenerative illness, as well as devices to monitor the disease in patients and the effectiveness of treatmentPrevious studies found that Parkinson's disease patients have higher levels of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) in their bodies.

There are already some devices on the market that test blood or tissue samples for MAO-B to gauge someone's risk of getting the disease.

However, some of these tests cannot distinguish MAO-B from a closely related enzyme called MAO-A. Others require additional chemicals that could affect the enzymes and distort the test results, said the NUS team.

It has developed a new compound that tags MAO-B activity in fluorescent light, with the light becoming more intense where there is more activity.

So far, it has tested the compound successfully on blood samples from only six people - three patients and three control individuals.

But it intends to use a grant from the National Medical Research Council for a larger study that will involve samples from at least 100 patients and to be completed within four years.

"We hope to use the method to conveniently track and monitor the disease in patients, as well as see whether their treatment is effective," said NUS Associate Professor Lim Kah Leong, who is also the principal research scientist at the National Neuroscience Institute.

"We might also be able to identify people with higher MAO-B activity in them, which could signal a higher risk of Parkinson's disease."

The team's work was published in the prestigious science journal Nature Communications last month.

Parkinson's affects motor functions, causing tremors, stiff muscles and poor balance.

The risk of developing Parkinson's increases with age. It is the second most common neuro-degenerative disease here, after Alzheimer's, and affects three in 1,000 people aged above 50.

According to a report in April last year, there were about 4,000 people in Singapore with Parkinson's. The figure is expected to rise given Singapore's ageing population.

zengkun@sph.com.sg

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