In A Groundbreaking New Study, Researchers Developed A Blood Test That May Be Able To Identify Parkinson’s Disease Up To Seven Years Prior To Symptom Onset
Approximately 1 million people in the United States have Parkinson’s disease (PD), a progressive disorder impacting the nervous system. Yet, this degenerative disorder has been notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages.
Typically, once symptoms such as stiffness and tremors are already appearing, significant damage has already occurred and is irreversible.
However, a new study is providing hope for earlier intervention and improved outcomes. Researchers at the University College London have developed a simple blood test that may be capable of identifying Parkinson’s disease up to seven years prior to when movement symptoms present.
This revolutionary test only needs to quantify the levels of eight proteins within our blood. The researchers used artificial intelligence (AI) and found that the specific pattern of these proteins could consistently differentiate Parkinson’s patients from healthy individuals with perfect accuracy.
Moreover, the test identified nearly 80% of individuals in the earliest stage of Parkinson’s disease before any movement symptoms even appeared.
The study builds on past research, which suggests that, although Parkinson’s is primarily a brain disorder, other significant changes throughout the body – like inflammation – are also involved.
So, the eight-protein signature is comprised of various markers indicative of cellular stress and an overactive immune system. This highlights biological processes that deviate from the norm years before PD’s characteristic brain changes lead to neuron death.
The researchers first conducted a broad comparison of blood samples from a small group of recently diagnosed Parkinson’s disease patients and healthy individuals to develop the test. This comparison showed several proteins with varying levels between the two groups, indicating that inflammation and cellular stress responses were involved.
Afterward, the researchers created a targeted test to accurately measure proteins deemed the most promising. The test was validated in a large cohort, which was comprised of Parkinson’s patients, healthy controls, and individuals with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) – which is a critical early sign of Parkinson’s.
Rido – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people
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Remarkably, the test was successful and clearly distinguished Parkinson’s patients from healthy individuals.
So, the research team moved on to using computer models to pinpoint the most indicative proteins – narrowing it down to a panel of eight. A model based on just these proteins could accurately identify Parkinson’s in the test group 100% of the time.
The researchers also applied the test to samples collected from a separate group of 54 people who had RBD. The test was able to identify nearly 80% of these individuals as having a Parkinson’s disease-like protein signature up to seven years prior to being diagnosed based on presenting movement symptoms.
Despite this not being perfect, the test is still paving the way for a screening tool that can help identify people at high risk and allow for earlier interventions.
Still, there were some limitations in this study. Primarily, the RBD diagnosis was based on neurological exams and sleep tests as opposed to brain autopsies. This means some participants might have had another underlying condition.
Furthermore, RBD is only one pathway to Parkinson’s disease. So, further research with larger groups is necessary to determine if the protein signature is consistent across different patient types and demographics.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Nature Communications, visit the link here.
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