Researchers have used the vibrational spectroscopy techniques of Raman spectroscopy (RS) and near infra-red (NIR) spectroscopy to study the metabolic changes that occur with the onset of Parkinson's.

These biomarkers could not only be used as a tool in the early diagnosis of sufferer's of Parkinson's but also as a tool to monitor the progression of the disease during clinical trials.

Trials currently use neuroimaging analysis to study disease progression but visually noticeable changes in the brain are slow leading to long trials that hold up the development of important new drugs.

Parkinson's is a neurological degenerative disorder of the central nervous system impairs the motor skills and speech of over 1.5m people in the US.

This is caused by certain neurons dying or failing to work properly which leads to the reduced production of the neurotransmitter dopamine that sends information to those parts of the brain controlling movement and coordination.

"Currently there are no proven biomarkers to aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson's. Advanced neuroimaging analyses such as positron emission tomography (PET) are too complex and expensive to be used on a routine basis," said Dr James Posillico, CEO of Molecular Biometrics.

Oxidative metabolism (OM) has been implicated in the onset of disease and the use of the Molecular Biometrics biospectroscopy-based metabolomics (BSM) platform showed that both RS and NIR could quantify biomarkers of OM with a sensitivity of over 75 per cent.

This latest study involved examining the blood plasma of 52 patients, with 20 of those probably suffering from early stage Parkinson's and found that the techniques detected unique metabolic profiles or fingerprints for the two groups.

"We expect that metabolomic signatures like those identified in this pilot study will eventually provide clinicians with a rapid, cost-effective tool for diagnosing and monitoring patients with Parkinson's," continued Posillico.

"Biospectroscopic tests may also be useful in clinical trials to determine if new drug candidates are having the desired effect of modifying disease progression."

Oxidative stress and free radical-mediated damage to proteins, lipids and nucleic acids has also been demonstrated in the brains and blood of Alzheimer's disease patients.

Scientists at Molecular Biometrics have shown that this oxidative modification of blood proteins can be readily detected using biospectroscopy of small volumes of human plasma to reveal metabolomic signatures unique to patients with early sporadic Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and normal elderly controls (NEC).