Research has shown that skin biopsy can be used to detect elevated levels of abnormal proteins that are seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
"Until now, the only way to confirm the presence of the disease was through a brain biopsy, so such diseases often remained noticed until they progressed", – said study author Ildefonso Rodriguez-Leyva, a doctor at the Central Hospital at the University of San Luis Potosi (Mexico).
"We hypothesized that because skin and brain tissue in the embryo develop from the same 'source', they might share the same abnormal proteins. With the new test, doctors could identify and diagnose Parkinson's and Alzheimer's."
During the study, experts performed skin biopsies on 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease, 16 – with Parkinson's disease and 17 – with dementia due to other diseases. The scientists then compared the results with those of 12 healthy people of the same age group.
Specialists have tested skin samples to identify certain types of abnormal proteins that indicate the presence of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.
Compared with healthy patients and patients with dementia caused by other diseases, patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease had seven times higher levels of tau protein. The presence of Parkinson's disease was characterized by an alpha-synuclein level eight times higher than that of the control group.
Further studies are needed to confirm the results obtained, but it can already be said that this method of diagnosing diseases is promising. Such a procedure, according to scientists, can be used not only to study Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, but also other neurodegenerative diseases.
Source estet-portal.com
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