Expression Profiling of Rectal Biopsies Suggests Altered Enteric Neuropathological Traits in Parkinson’s Disease Patients

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Cossais, François^{a; *} | Schaeffer, Eva^b | Heinzel, Sebastian^b | Zimmermann, Jessica^a | Niesler, Beate^{c; d; e} | Röth, Ralph^{c; d} | Rappold, Gudrun^{c; d; e} | Scharf, Amelie^a | Zorenkov, Dmitri^b | Lange, Christina^a | Barrenschee, Martina^a | Margraf, Nils G.^b | Ellrichmann, Mark^f | Berg, Daniela^b | Böttner, Martina^a | Wedel, Thilo^a

Affiliations: [a] Institute of Anatomy, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany | [b] Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany | [c] Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Institute of Human Genetics, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany | [d] nCounter Core Facility, Institute of Human Genetics, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany | [e] Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany | [f] Interdisciplinary Endoscopy, Medical Department I, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: François Cossais, PhD, Institute of Anatomy, Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, Olshausenstrasse 40, D –24098 Kiel, Germany. Tel.: +49 431 880 3796; Fax: +49 431 880 2699; E-mail: f.cossais@anat.uni-kiel.de.

Abstract: Still little is known about the nature of the gastrointestinal pathological alterations occurring in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here, we used multiplexed mRNA profiling to measure the expression of a panel of 770 genes related to neuropathological processes in deep submucosal rectal biopsies of PD patients and healthy controls. Altered enteric neuropathological traits based on the expression of 22 genes related to neuroglial and mitochondrial functions, vesicle trafficking and inflammation was observed in 9 out of 12 PD patients in comparison to healthy controls. These results provide new evidences that intestinal neuropathological alterations may occur in a large proportion of PD patients.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, gut-brain-axis, neuropathology, inflammation, cyclooxygenase 2, adaptor protein complex 2, toll-like receptor, nuclear receptor NR4A2, neuro-oncological ventral antigen 1, phospholipase A2 group IIA

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-202258

Journal: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 171-176, 2021