TY  - JOUR
AU  - Demleitner, Antonia F
AU  - Gomes, Lucas Caldi
AU  - Wenz, Lara
AU  - Tzeplaeff, Laura
AU  - Pürner, Dominik
AU  - Luib, Elena
AU  - Kunze, Lea
AU  - Lingor, Paul
TI  - An Exploratory Analysis of Differential Tear Fluid miRNAs in Patients with Parkinson's Disease and Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes.
JO  - Molecular neurobiology
VL  - 62
IS  - 12
SN  - 0893-7648
CY  - Totowa, NJ
PB  - Humana Press
M1  - DZNE-2025-01204
SP  - 16397 - 16409
PY  - 2025
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) are neurodegenerative disorders diagnosed by clinical criteria with limited diagnostic specificity in early stages. Diagnostic biomarkers facilitating early and precise diagnosis are needed. Tear fluid (TF) is an easily accessible body fluid reflecting pathophysiological changes in ocular and systemic diseases. In this exploratory study, we investigate TF as a non-invasive source of disease-specific miRNAs for PD, MSA, and PSP. We demonstrate reduced TF production in PD patients. Using a real-time quantitative PCR-based array targeting 1113 miRNAs, we identified 55 exclusively expressed in PD, 35 in PSP, and 14 in MSA, respectively. Several of these have previously been identified in other biofluids. Overrepresentation analysis of target genes showed apoptotic and cell differentiation pathways as common targets. While these findings suggest that miRNA alterations in TF might reflect disease mechanisms in PD and atypical Parkinsonian syndromes, the exploratory character of the study combined with the use of pooled samples, indicates the need for further validation. The small sample size highlights the importance of follow-up studies with larger, more definitive cohorts to confirm the potential of these miRNAs as reliable biomarkers.
KW  - Humans
KW  - MicroRNAs: metabolism
KW  - MicroRNAs: genetics
KW  - Parkinson Disease: genetics
KW  - Parkinson Disease: metabolism
KW  - Male
KW  - Female
KW  - Aged
KW  - Tears: metabolism
KW  - Middle Aged
KW  - Multiple System Atrophy: genetics
KW  - Parkinsonian Disorders: genetics
KW  - Parkinsonian Disorders: metabolism
KW  - Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive: genetics
KW  - Biomarkers: metabolism
KW  - Atypical Parkinsonian syndrome (Other)
KW  - Biomarker (Other)
KW  - MiRNA (Other)
KW  - Multiple system atrophy (Other)
KW  - Progressive supranuclear palsy (Other)
KW  - Tear fluid (Other)
KW  - MicroRNAs (NLM Chemicals)
KW  - Biomarkers (NLM Chemicals)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:40758158
DO  - DOI:10.1007/s12035-025-05252-2
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/281823
ER  -