Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot Study

<b>Background/Objectives:</b> The current research examines the accuracy of α-synuclein in RBCs as a diagnostic biomarker for PD and PSP, despite their distinct molecular etiologies. <b>Methods:</b> We used ELISA to measure total, oligomeric, and p129-α-synuclein levels in er...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Costanza Maria Cristiani, Luana Scaramuzzino, Elvira Immacolata Parrotta, Giovanni Cuda, Aldo Quattrone, Andrea Quattrone
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Biomedicines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/12/11/2510
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850145358204633088
author Costanza Maria Cristiani
Luana Scaramuzzino
Elvira Immacolata Parrotta
Giovanni Cuda
Aldo Quattrone
Andrea Quattrone
author_facet Costanza Maria Cristiani
Luana Scaramuzzino
Elvira Immacolata Parrotta
Giovanni Cuda
Aldo Quattrone
Andrea Quattrone
author_sort Costanza Maria Cristiani
collection DOAJ
description <b>Background/Objectives:</b> The current research examines the accuracy of α-synuclein in RBCs as a diagnostic biomarker for PD and PSP, despite their distinct molecular etiologies. <b>Methods:</b> We used ELISA to measure total, oligomeric, and p129-α-synuclein levels in erythrocytes from 8 PSP patients, 19 PD patients, and 18 healthy controls (HCs). The classification performances of RBC α-synuclein levels were investigated by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. We also evaluated a possible correlation between RBC α-synuclein level and the biological and clinical features of our cohorts. <b>Results:</b> RBC total α-synuclein was higher in PSP patients compared to both PD patients and HCs, achieving good classification performance (AUC: 0.853) in distinguishing PSP patients from PD patients, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 70.6%; moreover, the levels of this biomarker positively correlated with disease severity in PSP group. Regarding oligomeric α-synuclein and p129-α-synuclein, the latter was slightly increased in RBCs from PSP patients compared to HCs, but no correlations were detected. <b>Conclusions:</b> Although these findings need to be confirmed in larger studies, our pilot work suggests that RBC total α-synuclein may represent a potential molecular biomarker for the differential diagnosis and clinical staging of PSP.
format Article
id doaj-art-68b3f58b69004191b3ff4f4ce91828db
institution OA Journals
issn 2227-9059
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Biomedicines
spelling doaj-art-68b3f58b69004191b3ff4f4ce91828db2025-08-20T02:28:07ZengMDPI AGBiomedicines2227-90592024-11-011211251010.3390/biomedicines12112510Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot StudyCostanza Maria Cristiani0Luana Scaramuzzino1Elvira Immacolata Parrotta2Giovanni Cuda3Aldo Quattrone4Andrea Quattrone5Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University “Magna Graecia”, 88100 Catanzaro, ItalyNeuroscience Research Center, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University “Magna Graecia”, 88100 Catanzaro, ItalyInstitute of Molecular Biology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University “Magna Graecia”, 88100 Catanzaro, ItalyResearch Centre for Advanced Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University “Magna Graecia”, 88100 Catanzaro, ItalyNeuroscience Research Center, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University “Magna Graecia”, 88100 Catanzaro, ItalyNeuroscience Research Center, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University “Magna Graecia”, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy<b>Background/Objectives:</b> The current research examines the accuracy of α-synuclein in RBCs as a diagnostic biomarker for PD and PSP, despite their distinct molecular etiologies. <b>Methods:</b> We used ELISA to measure total, oligomeric, and p129-α-synuclein levels in erythrocytes from 8 PSP patients, 19 PD patients, and 18 healthy controls (HCs). The classification performances of RBC α-synuclein levels were investigated by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. We also evaluated a possible correlation between RBC α-synuclein level and the biological and clinical features of our cohorts. <b>Results:</b> RBC total α-synuclein was higher in PSP patients compared to both PD patients and HCs, achieving good classification performance (AUC: 0.853) in distinguishing PSP patients from PD patients, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 70.6%; moreover, the levels of this biomarker positively correlated with disease severity in PSP group. Regarding oligomeric α-synuclein and p129-α-synuclein, the latter was slightly increased in RBCs from PSP patients compared to HCs, but no correlations were detected. <b>Conclusions:</b> Although these findings need to be confirmed in larger studies, our pilot work suggests that RBC total α-synuclein may represent a potential molecular biomarker for the differential diagnosis and clinical staging of PSP.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/12/11/2510Parkinson’s diseaseprogressive supranuclear palsyα-synucleinoligomeric α-synucleinphosphorylated α-synucleinred blood cells
spellingShingle Costanza Maria Cristiani
Luana Scaramuzzino
Elvira Immacolata Parrotta
Giovanni Cuda
Aldo Quattrone
Andrea Quattrone
Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot Study
Biomedicines
Parkinson’s disease
progressive supranuclear palsy
α-synuclein
oligomeric α-synuclein
phosphorylated α-synuclein
red blood cells
title Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot Study
title_full Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot Study
title_short Erythrocytic α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Pilot Study
title_sort erythrocytic α synuclein in parkinson s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy a pilot study
topic Parkinson’s disease
progressive supranuclear palsy
α-synuclein
oligomeric α-synuclein
phosphorylated α-synuclein
red blood cells
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/12/11/2510
work_keys_str_mv AT costanzamariacristiani erythrocyticasynucleininparkinsonsdiseaseandprogressivesupranuclearpalsyapilotstudy
AT luanascaramuzzino erythrocyticasynucleininparkinsonsdiseaseandprogressivesupranuclearpalsyapilotstudy
AT elviraimmacolataparrotta erythrocyticasynucleininparkinsonsdiseaseandprogressivesupranuclearpalsyapilotstudy
AT giovannicuda erythrocyticasynucleininparkinsonsdiseaseandprogressivesupranuclearpalsyapilotstudy
AT aldoquattrone erythrocyticasynucleininparkinsonsdiseaseandprogressivesupranuclearpalsyapilotstudy
AT andreaquattrone erythrocyticasynucleininparkinsonsdiseaseandprogressivesupranuclearpalsyapilotstudy