Patent development: "Method for predicting L-DOPA induced dyskinesia early onset and severity in Parkinson's disease patients"

The group have developed a technology that allows to identify specific combinations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with the early appearance and the severity of levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) in patients affected of Parkinson's diseaese (PD). 

The team of inventors that have developed this patent is formed by Dra. Cristina Malagelada Grau and Núria Martín Flores from the Universitat of Barcelona (UB), Dr. Mario Ezquerra and Dr. Rubén Fernández-Santiago from UB and the Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Dr. Maria Josep Martí from UB, IDIBAPS and Hospical Clínic de Barcelona.

LID is the main side-effect of long-term levodopa treatment that involves uncontrollable hyperkinetic movements, and is one of the most disabling problems for patients. The presence of a specific combination of these genetic variants in a particular patient will allow the individualization of levodopa treatment maximizing its effectivity and reducing LID appearance.

All the studied SNPs are present in genes involved in the mTOR signaling pathway, which is known to display an important role on PD. mTOR has been implicated in physiologic processes and its activity can be altered in pathological processes including tuberous sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, brain tumours and cortical dysplasia.

The present invention can help to avoid and/or mitigate this important side effect of L-DOPA, detecting the PD patients more prone to suffer early and severe LIDs, and adapting the therapeutic approaches (for instance, the reduction of the levodopa doses and/or the administration of dopaminergic agonist). 

Method for predicting L-DOPA induced dyskinesia early onset and severity.