title: Spectroscopy of human plasma for diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No established chemical biomarkers of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) currently exist. Augmented oxidative stress (OS) has been implicated in both neural and peripheral PD tissues.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, Raman scattering and near-infrared spectroscopy were used to detect and quantify oxidative substrate modifications in blood plasma samples from PD and normal elderly control (NEC) subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypothesis-driven preselection of OS-sensitive bandwidths distinguished PD from NEC subjects with approximately 75% sensitivity and specificity using both complementary spectroscopic techniques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Biospectroscopy of plasma may provide a rapid, minimally invasive and inexpensive chemical biomarker of idiopathic PD.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neurotranslational Research, Lady Davis Institute, Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Hyman M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Schipper
authors.forename: C Shing
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rosendahl
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bandilla
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Maes
authors.forename: Calvin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Melmed
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rabinovitch
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Burns