NIH launches collaborative effort to find biomarkers for Parkinson's

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched the Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP), which aims to accelerate the search for biomarkers in Parkinson's disease, in part by improving collaboration among researchers and helping patients get involved in clinical studies.

A lack of biomarkers for Parkinson's has been a major challenge for developing better treatments, according to a release issued by the NIH. The PDBP supports efforts to invent new technologies and analysis tools for biomarker discovery, to identify and validate biomarkers in patients and to share biomarker data and resources across the Parkinson's community. The program is being launched by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the NIH.

There are no proven biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease, which affects 1 million people in the U.S. Parkinson’s is characterized by a progressive loss of cells in the substantia nigra and an accumulation of Lewy bodies. However, Lewy bodies and other telltale signs cannot be observed until after death. Biomarkers could be used to detect and monitor the disease much earlier, perhaps before symptoms appear, and may improve the success of existing therapies and help researchers test new ones in clinical trials.

Some researchers are investigating the use of imaging to detect changes in brain function or biochemistry. Several studies have tentatively linked the disease with changes in proteins or other molecules in blood, urine or in the cerebrospinal fluid.

Nine research teams have been funded through the program so far. Imaging-related studies include:

• F. Dubois Bowman, PhD, Emory University, Atlanta
  This group will develop statistical tools to analyze data from brain imaging, genetic, molecular and clinical tests, in order to discover biomarkers which, in combination, can better predict the course of Parkinson’s disease than a single biomarker might be able to do.
• Xuemei Huang, MD, PhD, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  This team will seek to determine whether state-of-the-art MRI scans can reveal subtle structural and chemical changes in the brain, including iron accumulation, during Parkinson’s.

To support collaboration across these projects and others, the PDBP is introducing a new online data sharing platform, the Data Management Resource (DMR), which was developed by the NIH Center for Information Technology. PDBP investigators are required to share data through the DMR. In the future, this requirement will also apply to investigators funded through the NINDS Udall Centers. Investigators not funded through these programs will be able to access the data and request biological samples, as well as be encouraged to submit their own. Biological samples submitted through the PDBP will be banked by the NINDS Human Genetics Repository at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, N.J.