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Urinary kynurenine as a biomarker for Parkinson’s disease

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Abstract

Objective

To examine whether urine kynurenine (KYN) levels were associated with early-stage Parkinson’s disease (PD), as well as the value of urine KYN as a potential biomarker in early-stage PD.

Method

Eighty-two participants including 41 PD patients and 41 healthy controls were enrolled into this study. Urine KYN levels were measured with a KYN enzyme-linked immunoassay kit. In order to explore the correlation between some clinical parameters and urine KYN, the clinical parameters for these participants were recorded. Diagnostic value and clinical relevance of urine KYN were assessed by using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve and correlation analysis.

Results

Urine KYN levels were significantly higher in the PD group than in the healthy group (891.95 ± 276.65 pg/ml vs. 640.11 ± 122.37 pg/ml, p = 0.000). The correlations between urine KYN levels and clinical parameters are as follows: Hoehn-Yahr stage (r = 0.676, p = 0.000), disease duration (r = 0.772, p = 0.000), Mini-Mental State Examination scores (r = −0.434, p = 0.005). There was no statistically significant correlation between urine KYN with age, low-density cholesterol (LDL), triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (TC), homocysteine (HCY), uric acid (UA), and glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The ROC analysis showed that urine KYN optimal cutoff value of 751.88 pg/ml had a sensitivity of 65.9% and a specificity of 90.2% for distinguishing between PD and controls, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.776.

Conclusion

Urine KYN were significantly associated with PD severity and mild cognitive impairment. Urine KYN may be a new biomarker for early-stage PD.

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Funding

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81400957), and the Medical and Health Technology Development Project of Shandong (2016WSA10008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yu Yongpeng Innovation Studio and Department of Neurology, Weihai Central Hospital, Qingdao University, Weihai, 264400, China

    Jia-he Bai, Ya-li Zheng & Yong-peng Yu

  2. Department of Neurology, Weihai Central Hospital, Weifang Medical college, Weihai, 264400, China

    Yong-peng Yu

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  1. Jia-he Bai
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Contributions

Putting forward this idea: Yong-peng Yu

Project administration: Yong-peng Yu

Data curation and methodology: Jia-he Bai and Ya-li Zheng

Software and writing, review, and editing: Jia-he Bai and Yong-peng Yu

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Correspondence to Yong-peng Yu.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This study was approved by the institutional Ethics Board Committee of the Weihai Central Hospital. All participants provided written informed consent to participate in the study.

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Bai, Jh., Zheng, Yl. & Yu, Yp. Urinary kynurenine as a biomarker for Parkinson’s disease. Neurol Sci 42, 697–703 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04589-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04589-x

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