Cognitive function correlates with gastric alpha-synuclein seeding activity in early Parkinson’s disease

Alpha-synuclein (AS) accumulation is more frequently detected in the stomach than in the colon of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting its potential as a pathologic biomarker. This study is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of real-time quaking-induced conversion assay on stomach biopsies for early PD and its association with clinical characteristics. Stomach biopsy tissues were prospectively collected from 22 patients with early-stage PD and 17 controls. Pathological AS-seeding activity was assessed, and correlations between kinematic parameters and clinical features were analyzed with age adjustment. Pathological AS-seeding activity was detected in 45.5% of patients with PD and in none of the controls. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment score was correlated with the lag time of positive replicates (Spearman's ρ = 0.742; p = 0.022), after age adjustment. The AS seed amplification assay using the stomach tissue may serve as a biomarker reflecting disease pathophysiology of the gut-brain axis in PD.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Parkinson s Disease
Published
2025-11-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-025-01152-3
Primary Topic
Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Cognitive function correlates with gastric alpha-synuclein seeding activity in early Parkinson’s disease

Kyung Ah Woo, Bora Jin, Seungmin Lee, Young Pyo Choi et al.
npj Parkinson s Disease
Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
article

Cognitive function correlates with gastric alpha-synuclein seeding activity in early Parkinson’s disease

Kyung Ah Woo, Bora Jin, Seungmin Lee, Young Pyo Choi, Hee Jin Chang, Jong Pil Im, Chaewon Shin, Jae Young Joo, Jung Hwan Shin, Han‐Joon Kim, Jong‐Min Kim, Jung‐Youn Han, HoYoung Jeon, Beomseok Jeon
article en

Abstract

Alpha-synuclein (AS) accumulation is more frequently detected in the stomach than in the colon of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting its potential as a pathologic biomarker. This study is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of real-time quaking-induced conversion assay on stomach biopsies for early PD and its association with clinical characteristics. Stomach biopsy tissues were prospectively collected from 22 patients with early-stage PD and 17 controls. Pathological AS-seeding activity was assessed, and correlations between kinematic parameters and clinical features were analyzed with age adjustment. Pathological AS-seeding activity was detected in 45.5% of patients with PD and in none of the controls. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment score was correlated with the lag time of positive replicates (Spearman's ρ = 0.742; p = 0.022), after age adjustment. The AS seed amplification assay using the stomach tissue may serve as a biomarker reflecting disease pathophysiology of the gut-brain axis in PD.

npj Parkinson s DiseaseVol. 11(1)
Dong-A University Hospital (KR), Seoul National University Hospital (KR), Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (KR), The Catholic University of Korea Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital (KR), Chungnam National University Hospital (KR), Chung-Ang University Hospital (KR), Korea Brain Research Institute (KR)
Seoul National University, Seoul National University Hospital
Openalex Percentile: Top 54%
Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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