Researchers have found that a protein in urine samples correlates with the presence and severity of Parkinson’s disease.
The biomarker can act as a possible guide for future clinical treatments and monitor the effectiveness of potential new drugs for Parkinson real time during treatment. “Nobody thought we would be able to measure the activity of this protein called huge LRRK2 (pronounced Lark both) in biological fluids, as usually found inside neurons in the brain,” said Andrew West, professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the United States.
parkinson disease
The findings appeared in the journal Movement Disorders. A biomarker helps doctors predict, diagnose, or control the disease, because the biomarker corresponds to the presence or risk of disease, and their levels can change as the disease progresses.
Validated biomarkers can help both pre-clinical trial work in the laboratory and future clinical trials of drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease.
