Alpha-synuclein immunoreactivity in minor salivary gland biopsies of Parkinson's disease patients.

MARIA GRACIELA CERSÓSIMO; CLAUDIA PERANDONES; FEDERICO EDUARDO MICHELI ; GABRIELA BEATRIZ RAINA; ANA MARIA BERON; GUSTAVO NASSWETTER; RADRIZZANI MARTIN; EDUARDO ELIAS BENARROCH

MOVEMENT DISORDERS

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: new York; Año: 2011 vol. 26 p. 188 - 190

0885-3185

The degenerative process in Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-SYN) immunoreactive Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites (1). Braak et al. showed that accumulation of α-SYN-containing inclusions in the enteric nervous system and olfactory bulb are the earliest neuropathological changes in PD (2, 3, 4). Consistent with these observations, both impaired olfaction and gastrointestinal dysmotility have been shown to be early non-motor manifestations and potential biomarkers of this disorder (5,6,7,8,9). A recent study showed the feasibility of colonic biopsies to detect α-synuclein-containing Lewy neurites in enteric neurons of PD patients (10). We have found that impaired salivation occurs at early stages of PD (11). Hyposialorrhea likely reflects early involvement the autonomic fibers innervating salivary glands by α-SYN-pathology. Consistent with this possibility, a recent study on autopsy material showed accumulation of α-SYN immunoreactive inclusions in the submandibular glands in both individual with incidental Lewy body disease and PD (12). However, post-mortem studies may preclude precise clinico-pathological correlations. is a standard diagnosis procedure for diagnosis of Sjögren disease and also allows the identification of autonomic fibers innervating both the acini and blood vessels (13, 14, 15).Thus, this procedure could provide a relatively simple approach to detect accumulation of α-SYN-containing Lewy neurites in minor salivary glands. In this pilot study, we sought to determine whether α-SYN pathology can be detected in labial minor salivary gland biopsy of PD patients. In this pilot study, we sought to determine whether α-SYN pathology can be detected in labial minor salivary gland biopsy of PD patients.