An international consortium has made significant advances in the diagnosis of neurological diseases. A recent paper published in the journal Nature Medicine describes the discovery of a new quantitative biomarker in lumbar fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) that could help doctors more accurately diagnose Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
The consortium, led by Dr Katharina Bolsevich and Professor Charlotte Theunissen from the Amsterdam UMC Institute of Neurochemistry, with key contributions from Dr Sebastian Engelborgs, Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Bruxelles and Head of the Department of Neurology at the University of Brussels, focused on the protein DOPA decarboxylase. This protein plays an important role in the production of dopamine in the brain. This study shows that patients with Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia have significantly higher concentrations of DOPA decarboxylase in their cerebrospinal fluid. This difference is clearly measurable compared to patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, making the test highly specific.
Because it is often difficult to accurately diagnose Lewy body dementia at present, this discovery is of great importance in clinical practice. Patients are regularly misdiagnosed because symptoms often overlap with other forms of dementia. Misdiagnosis can lead to decreased treatment effectiveness and even harmful treatment. New measurement methods provide physicians with an objective tool to determine the correct course of action at an early stage. ”
Dr. Sebastian Engelborgs, Professor at Free University of Brussels
During the course of the research, the consortium developed two highly sensitive clinical tests to reliably document the presence of DOPA decarboxylase. Results show that values in the target group are up to 2.5 times higher than in healthy control subjects. Furthermore, higher concentrations of the biomarkers directly correlated with the extent of pathological changes in the brain, highlighting the biological relevance of this test.
Although these results represent an important step towards routine application in medicine, the consortium emphasizes that further standardization is needed. “We can speak of a fruitful international collaboration. This publication brings important biomarkers closer to patients, precisely at a time when diagnosis is still often accompanied by uncertainty,” Engelborgs concluded.
sauce:
Free University of Bruxelles
Reference magazines:
Bolsewig, K. others. (2026). Quantitative DOPA decarboxylase biomarker for diagnosis of Lewy body disorders. natural medicine. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-026-04212-0. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04212-0
