Researchers have developed a simple and “cost-effective” blood test capable of detecting Parkinson’s disease long before symptoms emerge, according to a study.
About 153,000 people live with Parkinson’s in the UK, and scientists who undertook the research said the test could “revolutionise” an early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, “paving the way for timely interventions and improved patient outcomes”.
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition in which nerve cells in the brain are lost over time. This leads to a reduction of the chemical dopamine which plays an important part in controlling movement.
This new test, which the Times reports costs £80, analyses small pieces of genetic material known as transfer RNA fragments (tRFs) in the blood, focusing on a repetitive RNA sequence that accumulates in Parkinson’s patients.
It also looks at a parallel decline in mitochondrial RNA, which deteriorates as the disease progresses. Mitochondria exist inside cells and generate energy.
By measuring the ratio between these biomarkers, researchers said the test “offers a highly accurate, non-invasive, rapid and affordable diagnostic tool, providing hope for early interventions and treatments that could change the course of the disease”.
On a scale where a score of 1 indicates a perfect test while 0.5 shows the test is no better than flipping a coin, the test scored 0.86, the Times reported.
The best clinical tests presently used on patients showing early signs of the disease scored 0.73, according to the study published in the journal Nature Aging.
The test uses the same PCR technology used during the pandemic to confirm Covid cases. It works by amplifying the genetic material being targeted, which allows it to be detected.
“This discovery represents a major advancement in our understanding of Parkinson’s disease and offers a simple, minimally invasive blood test as a tool for early diagnosis,” said Prof Hermona Soreq of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who supervised the study. “By focusing on tRFs, we’ve opened a new window into the molecular changes that occur in the earliest stages of the disease.”
Prof David Dexter, director of research at Parkinson’s UK, said: “This research represents a new angle to explore in the search for a biological marker for Parkinson’s. In this case the marker can be identified and measured in the blood which makes it attractive for a future patient-friendly diagnostic test for Parkinson’s.
“More work is needed to continue to test and validate this possible test, especially understanding how it can distinguish between other conditions that have similar early signs to Parkinson’s.”
The study was led by PhD student Nimrod Madrer under the supervision of Prof Soreq at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, at the Hebrew University, in collaboration with Dr Iddo Paldor from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and Dr Eyal Soreq from the University of Surrey and the Imperial College London.
