title: Increased blood-cerebrospinal fluid transfer of albumin in advanced Parkinson's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alterations in blood-brain barrier permeability have been proposed to represent a relevant factor contributing to Parkinson's disease progression. However, few studies have addressed this issue in patients at different stages of disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Albumin was measured in cerebrospinal fluid and serum samples obtained from 73 non-demented subjects with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and 47 age-matched control subjects. The albumin ratio (AR) was calculated to assess blood-cerebrospinal fluid and blood-brain barrier function. The group of patients with Parkinson's disease included 46 subjects with Hoehn-Yahr staging between 1 and 2 and 27, with a score ranging from 2.5 to 4.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant differences in albumin ratio were found between patients with advanced disease, and both early-stage and unaffected groups. Conversely, early-phase patients did not differ from healthy subjects. Additionally, dopaminergic treatment seems to exert a possible effect on AR values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrates that possible dysfunction of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, blood-brain barrier, or both, characterize Parkinson's disease progression. The associations between clinical scores, treatments and biochemical findings suggest a progressive impairment of barrier integrity during the course of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pisani
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stefani
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pierantozzi
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Natoli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stanzione
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Franciotta
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pisani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000418:Albumins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000378:metabolism*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000418:Albumins; D015415:Biomarkers