Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of Prodynorphin-Derived Peptides Are Decreased in Huntington's Disease

BACKGROUND: Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a selective loss of striatal medium spiny projection neurons (MSNs). Prodynorphin (PDYN) is enriched in a subpopulation of striatal MSNs. Postmortem brains of HD patients and rodent models have been demonstrated to have reduced levels of PDYN transcripts and the neuropeptide dynorphin. METHODS: Given the unmet need for novel pharmacodynamic HD biomarkers in the context of experimental huntingtin (htt)-lowering therapies, we investigated the levels of PDYN-derived peptides and neurofilament light (NfL) chain in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from HD patients (n = 16), matched controls (n = 55), and patients with other neurodegenerative disorders (n = 70). RESULTS: PDYN-derived peptide levels were found to be substantially decreased in HD patients (P< 0.0001 in comparison to controls), whereas the NfL levels were elevated in all neurodegenerative disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests decreased PDYN-derived peptide levels in the CSF as a more specific biomarker for HD in comparison to NfL. (c) 2020 The Authors.Movement Disorderspublished by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Automated summary

PDYN-derived peptides were found to be substantially decreased in the CSF of HD patients, while NfL levels were elevated, indicating that PDYN-derived peptides may be a more specific biomarker for HD.