自从1817年James Parkinson在他《关于震颤麻痹分析》（Essay on the Shaking Palsy）一文中首次描述后，医生们一直寻找一种理想的帕金森病诊断方法。在过去的这几年里，可在症状出现前理想地认出疾病的生物标志物已经取得较大进展。由英国Lancaster大学主持的研究已分离了一种血液生物标志物，它有可能作为进行性退行性神经疾病的一个简单血液测试。
帕金森症病人表现出在神经细胞内有路易小体（Lewy bodies）与蛋白聚集，和这些含磷酸化与聚集的α-突触核蛋白 (alpha-synuclein，α-syn)。在血中，其表达水平也增加（与无帕金森症人的相比），暗示了早期大脑损伤，甚至在症状出现前。
来自兰卡斯特大学健康与药学学院生物医学和生命科学分部的博士David Allsop，是参与这项工作的研究人员，他说："帕金森疾病的血液测试将意味着你能在症状出现前发现处于患病危险中的人，这将有助于保护大脑药物的开发，使老人的生活质量与未来健康更好。"
在2010年9月，迈克尔·福克斯基金上市了帕金森症的自发进展性标志物（Progression Markers Initiative），是4千亿美元五年研究发的帕金森症的生物标志物。它尤其是一个可早期检测的生物标志物，能有包括排除其他神经疾病在内的许多优势。
在症状出现前鉴定疾病能帮助医生迅速开始治疗和追踪疗效，与监控疾病发展和给病人及其家属时间与丧失能力的诊断达成协议一样。它也能让研究人员开发靶向此标志物的治疗方法，鉴定最可能对此反应的病人。在这个生物标志物能被用于诊断或追踪进程前，还需要更多的研究，但是它已显示出可能性。（生物谷bioon.com)
doi:10.1096/fj.10-179192
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Phosphorylated α-synuclein can be detected in blood plasma and is potentially a useful biomarker for Parkinson's disease
Phosphorylated α-synuclein can be detected in blood plasma and is potentially a useful biomarker for Parkinson's disease
Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the presence of Lewy bodies containing phosphorylated and aggregated α-synuclein (α-syn). α-Syn is present in human body fluids, including blood plasma, and is a potential biomarker for PD. Immunoassays for total and oligomeric forms of both normal and phosphorylated (at Ser-129) α-syn have been used to assay plasma samples from a longitudinal cohort of 32 patients with PD (sampled at mo 0, 1, 2, 3), as well as single plasma samples from a group of 30 healthy control participants. The levels of α-syn in plasma varied greatly between individuals, but were remarkably consistent over time within the same individual with PD. The mean level of phospho-α-syn was found to be higher (P=0.053) in the PD samples than the controls, whereas this was not the case for total α-syn (P=0.244), oligo-α-syn (P=0.221), or oligo-phospho-α-syn (P=0.181). Immunoblots of plasma revealed bands (at 21, 24, and 50-60 kDa) corresponding to phosphorylated α-syn. Thus, phosphorylated α-syn can be detected in blood plasma and shows more promise as a diagnostic marker than the nonphosphorylated protein. Longitudinal studies undertaken over a more extended time period will be required to determine whether α-syn can act as a marker of disease progression.-Foulds, P. G., Mitchell, J. D., Parker, A., Turner, R., Green, G., Diggle, P., Hasegawa, M., Taylor, M., Mann, D., Allsop, D. Phosphorylated α-synuclein can be detected in blood plasma and is potentially a useful biomarker for Parkinson's disease.
