Skin Phosphorylated Alpha-Synuclein in Patients With Essential Tremor

There is an unmet need to develop biomarkers that can reliably identify patients with essential tremor (ET) who are at risk for eventually progressing to Parkinson disease (PD). Phosphorylated alpha synuclein (P-Syn), a leading biomarker for PD and other synucleinopathies, distinguishes diseased from healthy individuals with high sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, studies in prodromal populations, such as individuals with REM behavior disorder (RBD), have demonstrated high rates of skin P-Syn positivity. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the prevalence of skin P-Syn and other prodromal PD features in patients with ET.