PEPTOIDS AS A BIOMARKER FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE

12th November 2016 

Costly methods of diagnosis such as the SPECT scan or the PET scan are used for the indication of Parkinson's Disease. However, in early Parkinson's Disease a far less costly and relatively non-invasive biomarker would be preferable.

Researchers have identified a peptoid called PD2, which significantly binds higher levels of IgG3 antibody in those people with Parkinson's Disease. The PD2 peptoid was found to be 68% accurate in identifying Parkinson's Disease, which is less accurate than existing methods. 

However, PD2 was 84% accurate in identifying new cases of Parkinson's Disease. It is new cases of Parkinson's Disease that existing methods are not so accurate with. PD2 levels are also positively correlated with the United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score, which is the primary symptom questionnaire for Parkinson's Disease. So the researchers concluded that PD2 may be useful for the diagnosis of early Parkinson's Disease.

Reference : NPJ Parkinsons Disease [2016] 16012 Epub Jun 23 (U.Yazdani, S.Zaman, L.S.Hynan, L.S.Brown, R.B.Dewey, D.Karp, D.C.German)

Complete abstract : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27812535 

http://www.viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/news/161112.pdf mail@viartis.net