帕金森氏癥患者所經(jīng)歷的身體機(jī)能下降最終導(dǎo)致殘疾和生活質(zhì)量較低。但取決于不同個(gè)體，上述病癥可以是迅速發(fā)生，也可能會(huì)緩慢地發(fā)生。

    近日，UCLA科學(xué)家和同事，第一次確定與帕金森氏更快進(jìn)展形式相關(guān)的血液生化信號(hào)。新發(fā)現(xiàn)的生物標(biāo)志物可以幫助醫(yī)生在早期就能預(yù)測(cè)疾病，判斷疾病如何迅速進(jìn)展。

    研究人員表示，他們希望血液生物標(biāo)志物將有助于早期發(fā)現(xiàn)疾病，并導(dǎo)致更有效的治療疾病。這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)刊登在期刊PLOSONE上。帕金森氏病是第二個(gè)最常見的神經(jīng)退行性疾病，困擾超過1%的60歲以上的人。帕金森氏病除了影響行走，說話和其他運(yùn)動(dòng)功能，疾病也會(huì)導(dǎo)致認(rèn)知能力下降和抑郁癥。加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校BeateRitz教授說：帕金森的進(jìn)展過程在個(gè)體之間有很大變化。有些病人在診斷后短短幾年內(nèi)會(huì)坐上輪椅，癡呆或患上嚴(yán)重的抑郁癥，有的病人上述癥狀出現(xiàn)時(shí)間會(huì)大大延后。

    在這項(xiàng)研究中，研究人員利用250名帕金森氏癥早期階段患者的血液樣本，對(duì)這些患者追訪研究5到10年。結(jié)果是，其中四名被確定為具有緩慢進(jìn)展形式的帕金森氏癥，40名患快速進(jìn)展形式疾病。兩組患者的血液樣本，與一組來自同一地區(qū)的20名健康個(gè)體的樣本進(jìn)行比較。研究人員利用高分辨率質(zhì)譜儀，以確定血液中的代謝物或化學(xué)指紋。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了帕金森氏病快速進(jìn)展型的潛在生物標(biāo)志物。

    該生物標(biāo)志物稱為N8-乙酰精胺，與緩慢進(jìn)展者和健康對(duì)照組進(jìn)行比較，N8-乙酰精胺在快速進(jìn)展形式中是顯著升高的。Ritz教授說：這在了解帕金森氏癥如何演變的道路上向前邁出重要一步。我們的希望是，這種生物標(biāo)志物可以在早期發(fā)現(xiàn)疾病，進(jìn)而更有效的治療疾病。

    Serum Metabolomics of Slow vs. Rapid Motor Progression Parkinson's Disease: a Pilot Study

    James R. Roede, et al.Progression of Parkinson's disease （PD） is highly variable, indicating that differences between slow and rapid progression forms could provide valuable ***rmation for improved early detection and management. Unfortunately, this represents a complex problem due to the heterogeneous nature of humans in regards to demographic characteristics, genetics, diet, environmental exposures and health behaviors. In this pilot study, we employed high resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolic profiling to investigate the metabolic signatures of slow versus rapidly progressing PD present in human serum. Archival serum samples from PD patients obtained within 3 years of disease onset were **yzed via dual chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry, with data extraction by xMS**yzer and used to predict rapid or slow motor progression of these patients during follow-up. Statistical **yses, such as false discovery rate **ysis and partial least squares discriminant **ysis, yielded a list of statistically significant metabolic features and further investigation revealed potential biomarkers. In particular, N8-acetyl spermidine was found to be significantly elevated in the rapid progressors compared to both control subjects and slow progressors. Our exploratory data indicate that a fast motor progression disease phenotype can be distinguished early in disease using high resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolic profiling and that altered polyamine metabolism may be a predictive marker of rapidly progressing PD.