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60th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy (DGNN)

German Society for Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy

26. - 28.08.2015, Berlin

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Phosphorylated α-synuclein in skin nerve fibers differentiates Parkinson’s disease from multiple system atrophy

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  • corresponding author presenting/speaker Leonora Zange - Charité – University Medicine Berlin, Neuropathology, Berlin, Germany; HELIOS Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany
  • Cornelia Noack - Charité – University Medicine Berlin, Neurology, Berlin, Germany
  • Kathrin Hahn - Charité – University Medicine Berlin, Neurology, Berlin, Germany
  • Axel Lipp - Charité – University Medicine Berlin, Neurology, Berlin, Germany
  • Werner Stenzel - Charité – University Medicine Berlin, Neuropathology, Berlin, Germany

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neuropathologie und Neuroanatomie. 60th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy (DGNN). Berlin, 26.-28.08.2015. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2015. Doc15dgnnND3

doi: 10.3205/15dgnn03, urn:nbn:de:0183-15dgnn037

Published: August 25, 2015

© 2015 Zange et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

Text

Deposition of phosphorylated α-synuclein in cutaneous nerve fibers has been shown pre- and postmortem in Parkinson’s disease. No premortem studies about presence of phosphorylated α-synuclein in skin sympathetic nerve fibers of multiple system atrophy, another synucleinopathy, have been conducted yet. In this in vivo study, skin of the ventral forearm of 10 multiple system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease patients, respectively, together with 6 control subjects with essential tremor were examined by immunohistochemistry. Phosphorylated α-synuclein deposits in skin sympathetic nerve fibers and dermal nerve fiber density were assessed. All Parkinson patients expressed phosphorylated α-synuclein in sympathetic skin nerve fibers, correlating with an age-independent denervation of autonomic skin elements. In contrast, no phosphorylated α-synuclein was found in autonomic skin nerve fibers of multiple system atrophy and essential tremor patients. These findings support that phosphorylated α-synuclein deposition is causative for nerve fiber degeneration in Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, premortem investigation of phosphorylated α-synuclein in cutaneous nerve fibers may prove a relevant and easily conductible diagnostic procedure to differentiate Parkinson’s disease from multiple system atrophy.