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Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 mRNA levels are reduced in platelets from patients with Parkinson's disease
- Source :
- Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996). 117(9)
- Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Despite advances in neuroimaging, the diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) remains clinical. The identification of biological markers for an early diagnosis is of great interest to start a neuroprotective therapy aimed at slowing, blocking or reversing the disease progression. Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) sequesters cytoplasmic dopamine into synaptic vesicles for storage and release. Thus, VMAT2 impairment can regulate intra- and extracellular dopamine levels, influencing oxidative stress and neuronal death. Because in vivo imaging studies have demonstrated a VMAT2 reduction in PD patients greater than would be explained by neuronal loss alone, as an exploratory study we assessed VMAT2 mRNA and protein levels in platelets from 39 PD patients, 39 healthy subjects and 10 patients with vascular parkinsonism (VP) to identify a possible peripheral biomarker for PD. A significant reduction (p < 0.05) of VMAT2 mRNA levels was demonstrated in PD patients versus healthy controls. Patients with VP showed VMAT2 mRNA levels similar to controls. No difference in VMAT2 mRNA levels was found in untreated versus treated patients. No correlation was observed between mRNA levels and demographic or clinical characteristics. Furthermore, eight SNPs tagging the VMAT2 gene did not show effects on VMAT2 mRNA levels. Western blot analysis did not allow the quantification of VMAT2 protein expression in blood platelets. Although further studies in a greater number of cases are needed to confirm our data, the reduction in VMAT2 mRNA in platelets from PD patients suggests the existence of a systemic impairment of this transporter possibly contributing to PD pathology.
- Subjects :
- Blood Platelets
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Parkinson's disease
Genotype
Blotting, Western
Vesicular monoamine transporter 2
medicine.disease_cause
Neuroprotection
Dopamine
Internal medicine
Vesicular Monoamine Transport Protein
medicine
Humans
Platelet
RNA, Messenger
Biological Psychiatry
Aged
Analysis of Variance
biology
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Parkinson Disease
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Blot
Psychiatry and Mental health
Endocrinology
Neurology
Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins
Immunology
biology.protein
Blood Platelet
Biomarker (medicine)
Female
Neurology (clinical)
Oxidative stress
Human
medicine.drug
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14351463
- Volume :
- 117
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....e5dac1c2d43037533e035d1816691b59