What did the research discover?
Parkinson’s disease is becoming more common and progresses from a pre-motor stage, where early non-motor symptoms like REM sleep behavior disorder appear, to the more disabling motor stage. Detecting the disease early is critical to slowing its progression, but there is currently no reliable biomarker for early diagnosis.
This study tested a blood test that measures eight specific proteins using a targeted mass spectrometry assay. Researchers analyzed blood samples from 99 newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients, pre-motor individuals with REM sleep behavior disorder (two groups: 18 and 54 people, followed over time), and 36 healthy controls.
Using machine learning, the test was able to:
- Correctly identify all Parkinson’s patients based on their blood protein levels.
- Classify 79% of pre-motor individuals as having early Parkinson’s, up to 7 years before motor symptoms appeared.
- Show that many of these protein biomarkers correlate with symptom severity, indicating their potential role in tracking disease progression.
The identified proteins include Granulin precursor, Complement C3, and other markers involved in inflammation, immune response, and cell stress—all biological processes linked to neurodegeneration.
How can I apply this information?
If you are at risk for Parkinson’s disease or have early non-motor symptoms (such as REM sleep behavior disorder), this research suggests that in the future a blood test may help detect the disease years before movement symptoms appear. Early detection could allow for earlier interventions and better participation in clinical trials aimed at slowing Parkinson’s progression.
Because this is research, more studies are needed to confirm these findings and make the test available for widespread clinical use. However, this study represents an important step toward developing a simple blood-based test for early Parkinson’s detection, which could improve diagnosis and treatment strategies in the future.
Source:
Hällqvist J, Bartl M, Dakna M, Schade S, Garagnani P, Bacalini MG, Pirazzini C, Bhatia K, Schreglmann S, Xylaki M, Weber S. Plasma proteomics identify biomarkers predicting Parkinson’s disease up to 7 years before symptom onset. Nature Communications. 2024 Jun 18;15(1):4759. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11189460/
