Alpha-synuclein as a biomarker of Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder. Toxic aggregation of a small presynaptic protein alpha-synuclein is considered to be the main step in the pathogenesis of PD. Today there are no suitable diagnostic tests based on biochemical investigation of such readily accessible tissues as blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A search for PD biomarkers aimed at diagnosis and monitoring of the disease remains very actual. As suggested in several studies, the use of the peripheral alphasynuclein level might be a prognostic marker for PD, but until now this question remains open. Evaluation of blood and CSF alpha-synuclein levels in patients with PD compared with agematched controls provided conflicting results. Specific detection and quantification of oligomeric forms of alpha-synuclein in combination with the improvement of imaging techniques may be considered as most perspective direction.