Use of oxidative stress parameters as a potential biomarker in the blood of patients with an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease at the prodromal stage

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease that results from damage and death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The clinical diagnosis of PD is determined many years after the onset of the disease, when a significant part of the pool of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons die. This may be due to the relative low effectiveness of the replacement therapy used in the form of levodopa-containing drugs. In this regard, the main priority of researchers is to search for diagnostic tools for detecting PD at the preclinical (prodromal) stage. One of the main mechanisms of damage and death of nigral dopaminergic neurons is oxidative stress (OS).

The purpose of this work was to study changes in the oxidative stress index, as an integrative parameter of oxidative stress in the blood of patients at risk for developing PD, which could be considered potential diagnostic biomarkers at the prodromal stage of the disease.

Methods: The study involved 26 patients at risk of developing PD and 20 age-matched individuals as a control group. The main criterion for including patients at risk for developing PD was disturbances in sleep behavior, olfactory function, autonomic intestinal dysfunction (constipation), as well as neurological and mental disorders. Total oxidative status, total antioxidant status in the blood plasma of patients at risk for developing PD and the comparison group were determined by the spectrophotometric method.

Results. It has been shown that in the blood of patients at risk, the index of oxidative stress and the level of total oxidative status are increased, and the level of antioxidant status is reduced.

Conclusion. It is assumed that oxidative stress parameters may be candidates for the role of diagnostic biomarkers at the prodromal stage of PD.