2023-10-04 16:34:49
Parkinson’s Disease May Be Detectable Before Clinical Symptoms Appear, New Study Finds
Researchers from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London have made significant progress in detecting Parkinson’s disease before clinical symptoms emerge. The study, led by Siegfried Karl Wagner, utilized optical coherence tomography (OCT) to examine the retinas of living individuals and found changes that indicate the presence of the disease.
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, akinesia, and postural instability. Currently, there is no curative therapy for the progressive loss of dopamine-producing neurons. However, if patients can be identified in the early stages, there is hope for testing potential therapies and even finding a cure.
Previous studies on deceased Parkinson’s patients had already revealed changes in the retina, specifically in the layers of dopaminergic nerve cells. The ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) and the inner nuclear layer (INL) were found to be significantly thinner in Parkinson’s patients, indicating the death of neural cells in the retina.
To investigate whether these changes could be detected in living patients, the researchers used OCT, a non-invasive laser scanning technique that creates a three-dimensional image of the back of the eye. By analyzing large datasets from the AlzEye cohort (154,830 patients) and the UK Biobank (67,311 volunteers), they were able to compare retinal thickness in individuals with and without Parkinson’s disease.
The results were promising. In the AlzEye cohort, 700 individuals with Parkinson’s disease exhibited significantly thinner retinal cell layers compared to controls without the disease. In the UK Biobank data, the researchers identified 53 cases where individuals developed Parkinson’s symptoms an average of 2,653 days after the retina examination. Even at the time of the OCT, these individuals already showed thinner retinal cell layers of the GCIPL and the INL.
Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that OCT examinations could potentially diagnose Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before clinical symptoms manifest. This early detection could pave the way for early treatment options and more targeted clinical studies.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Valeria Koska and Phillip Albrecht emphasized the significance of these findings in establishing retinal morphology as a potential biomarker for neurodegenerative diseases. They called for further research to explore the prognostic value of retinal layers as biomarkers, and they expressed hope that technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence, could make this method even more effective in the future.
Parkinson’s disease affects millions of people worldwide, and early detection is crucial for improving treatment outcomes. The findings of this study offer hope for identifying the disease at a much earlier stage and potentially finding a way to halt or even cure its progression.
Sources:
– Wagner S.K. et al.: Retinal Optical Coherence Tomography Features Associated With Incident and Prevalent Parkinson Disease. Neurology2023. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207727
– Koska V., Albrecht, P.: Inner Retinal Thickness Changes in Prevalent and Incident Parkinson Disease: A Potential Biomarker With Prognostic Value?; Neurology 2023. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207780
Image source: Amanda Dalbjörn, Unsplash]
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