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An international group of researchers has discovered a new tool to reveal a key pathology of Parkinson's disease in the brain and body cells.
Identifying the new biomarker, abnormal alpha-synuclein, opens a new chapter for research, according to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
The foundation led the coalition and its landmark clinical study, Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI).
The findings were published Wednesday in the scientific journal The Lancet Neurology.
The tool, also known as the α-synuclein seeding amplification assay, can detect pathology in spinal fluid both for those diagnosed with the disease and individuals at high risk of developing it but have not yet been diagnosed or exhibited clinical symptoms.
The laboratory testing can confirm the presence of abnormal alpha-synuclein, which is detected in most people who have Parkinson's, with what the foundation said was "astonishing accuracy."
Of those who participated in the testing, 93% were proven to have abnormal alpha-synuclein.
A protein normally found in the nervous system, alpha-synuclein — like amyloid in Alzheimer’s — can start to misfold and clump, damaging neurons and causing Parkinson’s disease to develop.
It has previously been possible to confirm the presence of the clumps solely through postmortem analysis. If abnormal alpha-synuclein is present in a spinal fluid sample, clumps form and the dye the sample is prepared with lights up.