title: Abnormal Salivary Total and Oligomeric Alpha-Synuclein in Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: In Parkinson's disease (PD), alpha-synuclein (a-syn) can be detected in biological fluids including saliva. Although previous studies found reduced a-syn total (a-syntotal) concentration in saliva of PD patients, no studies have previously examined salivary a-syn oligomers (a-synolig) concentrations or assessed the correlation between salivary a-syntotal, a-synolig and clinical features in a large cohort of PD patients. Is well known that a-synolig exerts a crucial neurotoxic effect in PD. We collected salivary samples from 60 PD patients and 40 age- and sex-comparable healthy subjects. PD was diagnosed according to the United Kingdom Brain Bank Criteria. Samples of saliva were analyzed by specific anti-a-syn and anti-oligomeric a-syn ELISA kits. A complete clinical evaluation of each patient was performed using MDS-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Frontal Assessment Battery. Salivary a-syntotal was lower, whereas a-synolig was higher in PD patients than healthy subjects. The a-synolig/a-syntotal ratio was also higher in patients than in healthy subjects. Salivary a-syntotal concentration negatively correlated with that of a-synolig and correlated with several patients' clinical features. In PD, decreased salivary concentration of a-syntotal may reflect the reduction of a-syn monomers (a-synmon), as well as the formation of insoluble intracellular inclusions and soluble oligomers. The combined detection of a-syntotal and a-synolig in the saliva might help the early diagnosis of PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.|Department of Anatomic, Histologic, Forensic and Locomotor Apparatus Sciences, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vivacqua
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.|Neuromed Institute, Venafro (IS), Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suppa
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pietracupa
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic, Histologic, Forensic and Locomotor Apparatus Sciences, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Romina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mancinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.|Neuromed Institute, Venafro (IS), Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fabbrini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colosimo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic, Histologic, Forensic and Locomotor Apparatus Sciences, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gaudio
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.|Neuromed Institute, Venafro (IS), Italy.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berardelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015331:Cohort Studies; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D066329:Protein Aggregates; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012995:Solubility; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D066329:Protein Aggregates; D051844:alpha-Synuclein