Complement factor H protein as a biomarker of Parkinson's disease

1 . A biomarker for diagnosis, differential diagnosis and screening for a neurodegenerative disease comprising a Complement Factor H protein in a blood serum sample.

2 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is a form of movement disorder,

3 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is Parkinson's disease.

4 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is Frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, Corticalbasal Ganglionic Degeneration, or a form of Multiple System Atrophy.

5 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is a Stroke-Related, disorder, including: Multi-Infarct or Vascular dementia, Cerebrovascular accident, Post-irradiation Encephalopathy with seizures, Vascular Parkinsonism, Thalamic Cerebrovascular accident.

6 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is a Mixed disorder such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or both of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, combined with vascular dementia, vascular parkinsonism, or Lewy body dementia, or Frontotemporal dementia combined with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy.

7 . The biomarker of claim 1 wherein the neurodegenerative disease is Alcohol related dementia, Semantic dementia, Ataxia, Atypical parkinsonism, Dystonia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Essential tremor, Alzheimer's disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and any neurological disease or disorder or injury, depression or other psychiatric condition, or any other Parkinson's disease-like with symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease that results from any other cause.

8 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the Complement Factor H protein includes one or more of the amino acid sequences in Tables 2 and 3.

9 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the Complement Factor H protein is one or more of the processing products included in the amino acid sequences in Tables 2, 3 and 4.

10 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the Complement Factor H protein includes one or more antigenic determinants of the Complement Factor H protein, located within one or more of the amino acid sequences in Tables 2, 3 and 4.

11 . The use of the biomarker of claim 1 in a method for screening, diagnosing and/or differentially diagnosing for a neurodegenerative disease comprising:

obtaining a blood, blood serum, or blood plasma sample from a test subject;

determining a quantity of a Complement Factor H protein in the subject sample; and

comparing the quantity of a Complement Factor H protein in the test subject sample with ranges of values of the quantity of a Complement Factor H protein in samples of normal control subjects; and one or more groups of patients with a neurodegenerative disease,

whereby a quantity of a Complement Factor H protein in the test subject sample is indicative of a neurodegenerative disease or a normal condition.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the quantity of the biomarker in claim 1 is determined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis comprises a separation by isoelectric point followed by a separation by molecular weight.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the two-dimensional gel is stained and an intensity of the biomarker of claim 1 is proportional to the expression of the biomarker of claim 1 in the serum sample.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the quantity of the biomarker in claim 1 is determined by one or more antibodies to one or more antigenic determinants of the Complement Factor H protein, located within one or more of the amino acid sequences in Tables 2, 3 and 4.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the ranges of blood serum concentrations of a Complement Factor H protein in any group of normal controls or neurodegenerative diseases is determined by statistics.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the quantity of a Complement Factor H protein is determined along with the quantity of one or more other biomarkers for diagnosis, differential diagnosis or screening for a neurodegenerative disease.

18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the screening, diagnosis or differential diagnosis is an adjunct to at least one other diagnostic test for the neurodegenerative disease.

19 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the quantity of a Complement Factor H protein in the subject sample is determined by transferring the protein from the two-dimensional gel to a PVDF membrane (Western blot) and contacting the transferred protein with at least one antibody with reactivity to the amino acid sequences in Table 2, 3 and 4.

20 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the quantity of a Complement Factor H protein in the subject sample is determined by any type of immunoassay.