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Posted on Apr 13, 2015, 6 a.m.
A skin biopsy detects elevated levels of abnormal proteins found in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Because physiological confirmations of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases require brain biopsy, often these disorders go under-recognized until after disease onset and progression. Ildefonso Rodriguez-Leyva, from the University of San Luis Potosi (Mexico), and colleagues took skin biopsies from 20 people with Alzheimer's disease, 16 with Parkinson's disease and 17 with dementia caused by other conditions and compared them to 12 healthy people in the same age group. They tested these skin samples to detect alpha-synuclein containing Lewy neurites, the presence of which correlates to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.
Rodríguez-Leyva I. Presentation at American Academy of Neurology 67th Annual Meeting, April 2015. Previously published study: Rodríguez-Leyva I, Calderón-Garcidueñas AL, Jiménez-Capdeville ME, Rentería-Palomo AA, Hernandez-Rodriguez HG, Valdés-Rodríguez R, Fuentes-Ahumada C, Torres-Álvarez B, Sepúlveda-Saavedra J, Soto-Domínguez A, Santoyo ME, Rodriguez-Moreno JI, Castanedo-Cázares JP. “[alpha]-Synuclein inclusions in the skin of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism.” Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2014 Jul;1(7):471-8.
