VEGFA gene expression levels in patients with Parkinson’s disease and first-degree relatives

VEGFA gene expression levels in patients with Parkinson’s disease and first-degree relatives. Download PDF Abstract Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) contributes to angiogenesis and exerts neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects. Altered VEGFA expression has been implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but findings from peripheral transcriptomic studies remain inconsistent.

Data from clinically unaffected first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with PD are limited. To evaluate peripheral blood VEGFA mRNA expression in patients with PD and FDRs compared with healthy controls (HCs), and to explore age-related patterns and the discriminatory performance of VEGFA expression. Peripheral blood VEGFA expression was analyzed in 123 participants (PD patients, FDRs, HCs) using one-step RT-qPCR normalized to B2M.

Relative expression was log-transformed (logVEGFA). Group differences, age correlations, and diagnostic discrimination were assessed using ANOVA, Pearson correlation, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and multiple linear regression. Both patients with PD and FDRs had significantly higher logVEGFA levels than HCs (p = 0.004), with larger between-group differences in the exploratory subgroup aged ≤ 60 years (p < 0.001).

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