Serum Levels of Chemokines in Parkinson's Disease

Objective: Neuroinflammatory processes seem to contribute to the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease (PD). Chemokines play a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, acting mainly as mediators of leukocyte recruitment to inflammatory sites. The aim of the present study was to compare the serum levels of chemokines between healthy subjects and PD patients and to correlate these levels with the severity of PD.

Methods: We used ELISA to measure the levels of CCL3, CCL11, CCL24, CXCL8 and CXCL10 chemokines in the serum of PD patients (n = 47) and age- and gender-matched controls (n = 23). Patients were also clinically evaluated with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, the Modified Hoehn and Yahr Staging Scale and the Modified Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living Scale.

Results: There was no significant difference in serum levels of chemokines between controls and PD patients. There was no correlation between the serum levels of chemokines and the clinical measures of disease severity.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that serum levels of chemokines may not be considered as potential biomarkers of PD.