What autoantibodies tell us about the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease: An Editorial for 'Measurements of auto‐antibodies to α‐synuclein in the serum and cerebral spinal fluids of patients with Parkinson's disease' on page 489. Issue 6 (6th June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bach, Jan‐Philipp; Falkenburger, Björn H.
• Is Part Of: Journal of neurochemistry. Volume 145:Issue 6(2018)
• Page Start: 433
• Page End: 435
• Publication Date: 2018-06-06
• Subjects: Neurochemistry -- Periodicals; 616.8042
• DOI: 10.1111/jnc.14340
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3042

Abstract

Abstract : Abstract : This Editorial on 'Measurements of auto‐antibodies to a‐synuclein in the serum and cerebral spinal fluids of patients with Parkinson's disease' by Akhtar and colleagues, published in the current issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry summarises current evidence on autoantibodies in neurodegenerative diseases and comments on the impact of this research for PD pathogenesis and therapy. Autoantibodies have been involved in neurodegenerative disorders caused by protein aggregates, including Alzheimer disease (AD) characterised by aggregates of Aβ, Parkinson's disease (PD) characterised by aggregates of α‐synuclein, and prion disease. Still, the physiological role of these autoantibodies is only incompletely understood. For Aβ, several groups have demonstrated that autoantibodies are more prevalent in healthy controls than in AD patients, suggesting that autoantibodies may protect from Aβ pathology. Consequently, immunotherapies using antibodies targeting Aβ have been employed in AD patients. For α‐synuclein, findings on autoantibodies are mixed with findings of increased, decreased and similar concentrations of autoantibodies in PD patients as compared to healthy controls. In the current issue of this journal, Akthar and colleges refined an ELISA technique to measure autoantibodies against α‐synuclein and demonstrate that they are more prevalent in the CSF of PD patients than in healthy controls.