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Multiple organ involvement by alpha-synuclein pathology in Lewy body disorders
Gelpi E, Navarro-Otano J, Tolosa E, Gaig C, Compta Y, Rey MJ, Martí MJ, Hernández I et al.. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society, 2014-01-02
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Lewy body (LB) diseases are characterized by alpha-synuclein (AS) aggregates in the central nervous system (CNS). Involvement of the peripheral autonomic nervous system (pANS) is increasingly recognized, although less studied. The aim of this study was to systematically analyze the distribution and severity of AS pathology in the CNS and pANS. Detailed postmortem histopathological study of brain and peripheral tissues from 28 brain bank donors (10 with Parkinson's disease [PD], 5 with dementia with LB [DLB], and 13 with non-LB diseases including atypical parkinsonism and non-LB dementia). AS aggregates were found in the pANS of all 15 LB disease cases (PD, DLB) in stellate and sympathetic ganglia (100%), vagus nerve (86.7%), gastrointestinal tract (86.7%), adrenal gland and/or surrounding fat (53.3%), heart (100%), and genitourinary tract (13.3%), as well as in 1 case of incidental Lewy body disease (iLBD). A craniocaudal gradient of AS burden in sympathetic chain and gastrointestinal tract was observed. DLB cases showed higher amounts of CNS AS aggregates than PD cases, but this was not the case in the pANS. No pANS AS aggregates were detected in Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases with or without CNS AS aggregates. All pathologically confirmed LB disease cases including 1 case of iLBD had AS aggregates in the pANS with a craniocaudal gradient of pathology burden in sympathetic chain and gastrointestinal tract. AS was not detected in the pANS of any AD case. These findings may help in the search of peripheral AS aggregates in vivo for the early diagnosis of PD.
Key findings
- These findings may help in the search of peripheral AS aggregates in vivo for the early diagnosis of PD.
Why it matters
In postmortem tissue from 28 donors, alpha-synuclein aggregates were found in the peripheral autonomic nervous system of all Lewy body disease cases, and the authors suggest this may help early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. It is a pathology study about diagnosis, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Effect size86.7%; 53.3%; 13.3%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Movement Disorders: journal h-index 281 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 361 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 25.8 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 18.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 56 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Teresa Ribalta: h-index 39 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Hospital Clínic de Barcelona: institution h-index 827 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24395122) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Gelpi, E., Navarro-Otano, J., Tolosa, E., Gaig, C., Compta, Y., Rey, M. J., et al. (2014). Multiple organ involvement by alpha-synuclein pathology in Lewy body disorders. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.25776
Vancouver
Gelpi E, Navarro-Otano J, Tolosa E, Gaig C, Compta Y, Rey MJ, et al. Multiple organ involvement by alpha-synuclein pathology in Lewy body disorders. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. 2014. doi:10.1002/mds.25776. PMID: 24395122.
BibTeX
@article{gelpi2014-24395122,
author = {Gelpi, E. and Navarro-Otano, J. and Tolosa, E. and Gaig, C. and Compta, Y. and Rey, M. J. and Martí, M. J. and Hernández, I. and others},
title = {{Multiple organ involvement by alpha-synuclein pathology in Lewy body disorders}},
journal = {Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1002/mds.25776},
pmid = {24395122},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.25776}
}
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