Objective: The aim of the study was measurement of IgG to NT in blood plasma of Parkinson’s disease patients.

Background: Neurotensin (NT) is a 13-amino-acid neuropeptide that is found in both central and peripheral nervous system, especially in the gastrointestinal tract and lymphocytes. Like many other neuropeptides, NT acts as a neuromodulator. Functional and anatomic association between dopaminergic system and NT is the most studied. It has been shown that transmission of dopamine can be modulated by NT. That fact raises the possibility of neurotensinergic system being involved in the pathogenesis of diseases where the common determinant is a deregulation of dopamine transmission. Thus, it is assumed that the amount of NT can serve as an easily detectable additional indicator for predicting the course of PD.

Method: Method was developed, based on the existing protocol (Fetissov S.O, 2011), for the determination of IgG antibodies to plasma NT. The study included 30 patients with PD (twenty women and ten men aged 52 to 80 years with the severity of the disease, as measured by the Hoehn and Yahr Scale, from 1.0 to 3.0); the control group consisted of 25 neurologically healthy volunteers matched to the age and sex of the patients with PD (fifteen women and ten men aged 50 to 78 years).

Results: The amount of plasma NT antibodies in the control group was (1.65 ± 0.13) U, which was significantly higher than in the group of patients with PD ((1.00 ± 0.32) U, p = 0.001). When comparing the age of PD patients and the amount of plasma NT antibodies, an inverse correlation was found with a correlation coefficient R = –0.45; in the control group, no correlation between these two characteristics was found. When comparing the concentration of antibodies in men and women, no significant differences were found: p = 0.12 and p = 0.55, respectively, in the control group and in the PD group. When comparing the stage of the course of the disease and the amount of antibodies, the Kendall’s rank correlation coefficient was r_K = –0.26, p < 0.05. In patients at the advanced stages of PD, the concentration of IgG to NT was (0.46 ± 0.11) U, and was significantly lower than in patients with PD at the initial stages, with the concentration of IgG to NT being (1.17 ± 0.29) U, p = 0.01.

Conclusion: The amount of IgG antibodies to neurotensin in the blood plasma of PD patients can be considered as a prognostic marker for the course of this disease.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/igg-to-neurotensin-in-blood-of-parkinsons-disease-patients/