ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of quantitative detection of α-synuclein and DJ-1 protein in saliva for Parkinson Disease. Methods Twenty seven patients diagnosed with primary Parkinson's disease and 27 healthy controls were studied.The clinical data of all subjects were collected.Each participant received a disease evaluation including Hohn-Yahr stage, unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)-Ⅱ / Ⅲ, 12 Item odor identification test from Sniffin'Sticks (SS-12), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).α-syn and DJ-1 protein in saliva were examined by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The statistical analysis was used to test the difference in these two protein levels between patient and control groups and the correlation with age, gender and course of disease. Results There were significant changes in mean concentration of salivary α-syn (1269.02±16.09 pg/mL、1350.51±25.79 pg/mL,P=0.010) and DJ-1 protein (6.07±3.23 ng/mL、8.43±4.33 ng/mL,P=0.027) between patient and control groups. The sensitivity of α-syn and DJ-1 protein levels in PD diagnosis was 55.56% and 77.8%,and the specificity was 89.19% and 55.6%.The area under the ROC curve in finding the PD of α-syn and DJ-1 was 0.671 and 0.649, respectively. In Parkinson disease group, age, gender, UPDRS-Ⅱ / Ⅲ, Hohn-Yahr stage, SS-12, MMSE and MoCA of Parkinson's disease group were not related to the concentration of α-syn and DJ-1 protein in saliva (P>0.05). Conclusion The detection of α-syn and DJ-1 protein levels in saliva may be an auxiliary tool for diagnosis of PD.