Objective: To determine whether α-synuclein concentrations in the cell membrane and cytoplasm of erythrocytes are altered in PD patients and to evaluate their potential role as early biomarkers for PD.

Background: Early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease(PD) could significantly improve outcomes for patients and future disease-modifying treatments. Several studies have revealed that α-synuclein levels in peripheral erythrocytes are associated with PD, but the diagnostic value in early PD is unknown.

Method: The membrane and cytoplasm were extracted from erythrocytes in 65 early PD ,41 early Multiple system atrophy(MSA) and 133 age-matched controls. Participants were re-examined during a two-year follow-up, in order to enhance the accuracy of clinical diagnosis(Flow chart in Figure1). The Electrochemiluminescence assay was used to measure total and oligomeric α-synuclein levels.

Results: Demographic and clinical data of the study population were shown in Table1. Oligomeric a-synuclein levels in erythrocyte membrane were significantly increased in both early PD and early MSA groups compared with control group (PD vs. control, p<0.001; MSA vs. control, p=0.015), while no significant difference was found between early PD and early MSA groups(Figure2). The ROC curve indicated a sensitivity of 81.5% and a specificity of 60.2%, with an area under the curve of 0.74 for increased erythrocyte membrane a-synuclein oligomers in the differentiation between early PD and controls(Figure3). In contrast, no significant difference was found in erythrocyte cytoplasm α-synuclein levels among groups.

Conclusion: The present study suggest that erythrocyte α-synuclein could serve as a potential biomarker for early PD. Moreover, the specific elevation of oligomeric α-synuclein in erythrocyte membrane might help understand the role of α-synuclein in PD pathogenesis.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/oligomeric-alpha-synuclein-in-erythrocyte-membrane-in-early-parkinsons-disease/