"A New Parkinson’s Test - Hope or Hype?” by Prof. Alberto Espay

[Propertytyphoon]

Hi all

The recording of this event is now available on our YouTube channel

youtube.com/watch?v=UpXekSB...(Not working as expected?)

It is also available as a Podcast on all major Podcast providers. Here is the Spotify link

open.spotify.com/show/6WIgO...

We hope you find it useful.

Please share within your own PD community

Thanks

[Parkie123]

I enjoy listening to Dr Espay speak. He seems to make a lot of sense.

It's rather depressing when you realize that the focus of much of the Parkinson's research is on the wrong things.

[ParkinsonsLady]

From Parkibot:

Dr. Alberto Espay challenges the widely held "gain-of-function" hypothesis, which posits that the aggregation of alpha-synuclein into toxic clumps (Lewy bodies) is the primary driver of PD. Instead, he and colleagues propose a "loss-of-function" or "synucleinopenia" hypothesis. This view suggests that the critical issue in PD pathogenesis might be the depletion of the normal, soluble form of alpha-synuclein, rather than solely the accumulation of its aggregated form.

He and collaborators, have questioned the centrality of the gain-of-function hypothesis. They propose an alternative or complementary "loss-of-function" perspective, termed synucleinopenia, based on several observations:

1) CSF Levels: Lower levels of total alpha-synuclein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are associated with faster disease progression and greater brain atrophy, suggesting that a lack of the protein (in its soluble form) is detrimental.

2) Poor Correlation: The amount and location of Lewy body pathology in the brain do not correlate well with the severity or progression of clinical symptoms in PD patients.

3) Lewy bodies are often found in the healthy brains of individuals who died without any neurological symptoms.

4) Nature of Aggregates: Lewy bodies represent the insoluble fraction of alpha-synuclein. Their formation involves the transformation of the soluble, functional form (monomeric alpha-synuclein) into an insoluble state.