Abstract
Alpha-synuclein deposits, the pathological hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease, are consistently found in the gastrointestinal tract of parkinsonian subjects. These observations have raised the potential that endoscopically obtainable mucosal biopsies can aid to a molecular diagnosis of the disease. The possible usefulness of mucosal biopsies is, however, not limited to the detection of alpha-synuclein, but also extends to other essential aspects underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of gastrointestinal manifestations in Parkinson’s disease. The aim of the current review is to provide an appraisal of the existing studies showing that gastrointestinal biopsies can be used for the analysis of enteric neuronal and glial cell morphology, intestinal epithelial barrier function, and gastrointestinal inflammation in Parkinson’s disease. A perspective on the generation of organoids with GI biopsies and the potential use of single-cell and spatial transcriptomic technologies will be also addressed.
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Abbreviations
- BDNF:
-
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
- CD:
-
Crohn’s disease
- CNS:
-
Central nervous system
- EGC:
-
Enteric glial cells
- ENS:
-
Enteric nervous system
- GFAP:
-
Glial fibrillary acidic protein
- GI:
-
Gastrointestinal
- LRRK2:
-
Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2
- MM:
-
Muscularis mucosae
- MP:
-
Myenteric plexus
- NF-220:
-
Neurofilament protein 220
- NF-kB:
-
Nuclear factor-kappa B
- PD:
-
Parkinson’s disease
- PGP9.5:
-
Protein gene product 9.5
- SMP:
-
Submucosal plexus
- TJ:
-
Tight junctions
- VIP:
-
Vasoactive intestinal peptide
- ZO-1:
-
Zonula-occludens-1
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Acknowledgements
PD, ADGDL and LLV are supported by CECAP (comité d’entente et de coordination des associations de parkinsoniens), Parkinsoniens de Vendée, Association Parkinson 49, France Parkinson, CHU de Nantes, Fédération pour la recherche sur le cerveau and Institut des neurosciences cliniques de Rennes (INCR). Work in FC lab is supported by the “Hilde-Ulrichs-Stiftung für Parkinsonforschung”. SP is supported by NExt (Nantes University).
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Derkinderen, P., Cossais, F., de Guilhem de Lataillade, A. et al. Gastrointestinal mucosal biopsies in Parkinson’s disease: beyond alpha-synuclein detection. J Neural Transm 129, 1095–1103 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02445-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02445-6