Objective: We aim to study the relationship between clinical features in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD)  and their IL-6 and IL-1β serum levels.

Background: According to the pathophysiology of PD including different steps referred to as the cascade of synucleinopathy, the role of immune system in the development and progression of PD is now established.

Inflammation was first associated with PD in 1988, and inflammatory cytokines like IL-lβ, IL-6 and TNFα mediate neuroinflammation and neurotoxity, which sustains chronic inflammation and contributes to neurodegeneration through toxic oligomers aggregation and accumulation. [1]

Method: We assessed the data of a cohort of well-phenotyped PD from the Charles Nicolle Hospital, department of neurology [2021-2023]. We also included 30 healthy controls.

Patients and controls were investigated for IL-1β and IL-6 serum levels using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in collaboration with the department of immunology. We studied motor and non motor features, using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scale and the Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) scale. We evaluated non motor features using non motor symptoms scale (NMSS).

Results: The mean serum level of IL-1b was 7.77 pg/mL versus 0.91 pg/mL in the healthy control group, and the mean serum level of IL-6 was 4.41 pg/mL versus 1.09 pg/mL in the control group, revealing that patients with PD had significantly higher serum levels of IL-6 and IL-1β  compared to healthy controls.

Plasma IL-1β level correlated with UPDRS-III score and HY stage, but did not correlate with non motor scores.

On the contrary, IL-6 serum level did not correlate with motor symptoms, but was significantly associated with non motor symptoms specifically gastrointestinal and urinary disorders.

Conclusion: The plasma level of IL-6 and IL-1β can be a diagnosis biomarker for PD, with a specificity of IL-6 for autonomic dysfunction.

Neuroinflammation pathway is recognised as a disease escalating factor  in PD [1] and the concept of these biomarkers can revolutionize diagnosis and management of Parkinson disease.

References: 1 : Maria Öberg , Ivo Fabrik , Daniela Fabrikova -The role of innate immunity and inflammation in Parkinson´s Disease – 2021 [PubMed : 33471378 ]
2 : Yi Qu , Jiangsting Li , Qixiong Qin – A systematic review and meta-analysis of inflammatory biomarkers in Parkinson’s disease – 2023 [PubMed : 36739284]
3 : Green, Khousoussi, Svenningsson – Plasma IL-6 and IL-17A Correlate with Severity of Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease -2019 [PubMed : 31524180]
4: Teng-Hong Lian, Peng Guo, Li-Jun Zuo – Tremor-Dominant in Parkinson Disease: The Relevance to Iron Metabolism and Inflammation – 2019 [PubMed : 30971879]
5 : Xiao-Yan Qin , Shu-Ping Zhang , Chang Cao- Aberrations in Peripheral Inflammatory Cytokine Levels in Parkinson Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis- 2016 [PubMed : 27668667]

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/study-of-cytokine-profile-in-a-tunisian-parkinsons-disease-cohort/