There is a new indicator of Parkinson's disease, a chemical trace discovered in the brain that makes early diagnosis possible and which, since it is present in different levels in men and women, also paves the way for gender medicine for this disease.
The Italian discovery is published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease and is due to research conducted by neuroscientists, biochemists and neurologists from the Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate Franco Salvatore research center, the Vanvitelli University of Naples, the University of Pavia and the Ircss Mondino of Pavia.
The new indicator of Parkinson's is the abnormal level of the amino acid D-serine in the blood.
Research indicates that if D-serine concentrations in the blood are high, symptoms appear later;
on the contrary, if the levels of this amino acid are low, the symptoms appear sooner.
A fact, the researchers observe, which suggests "a possible neuroprotective effect of D-amino acid on the onset of the disease".
Elevated D-serine levels were also discovered in female patients, while no differences were found between males with the disease and respective control cases.
This discovery, observe the authors of the research, opens up new scenarios for the application of so-called gender medicine in the field of Parkinson's disease.
In the meantime, research continues to verify whether alterations in D-serine metabolism may be linked to oxidative stress, another factor that previous studies indicate is implicated in the onset of Parkinson's disease.
“This is a preliminary study, which we will be able to investigate further on larger patient series”, observes Alessandro Usiello, director of the Ceinge Translational Neuroscience Laboratory and professor of Clinical Biochemistry at Vanvitelli University, who conducted the research with Enza Maria Valente , head of the Neurogenetics Research Center of the Mondino Foundation, and with the neurologist Alberto Imarisio, and doctoral student at the University of Pavia.
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