The Utility of BDNF Detection in Assessing Severity of Huntington's Disease.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the survival and maturation of neurons, and also promotes and controls neurogenesis. Its levels are lowered in many neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease (HD). Clinical pictures of HD can be very diverse, which makes it difficult to assess its severity
Is TGF-β1 a Biomarker of Huntington’s Disease Progression?
Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant genetic disease that can be divided into preclinical and symptomatic stages. Due to the diverse HD phenotype, there is an urgent need to identify markers that would independently assess its severity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of plasma levels of TGF-β1 in the assessment of HD severity. One hundred HD patients and 40 healthy volunteers were included in the study. All HD patients underwent neurological and cognitive function assessment. TGF-β1 levels were determined in the plasma of all patients. The correlations between TGF-β1 levels and clinical profile and HD severity were also investigated. In symptomatic patients, cog…