Prof. Finkelstein has 8 eye-related scientific papers with Dr.Nguyen, mostly related to PD. He oversees all PD-related research at the Florey Institute and has been the main author of many ATH434 papers. He was also one of the authors of the primate study poster in the AAN meeting.

I would expect that Finkelstein will soon publish also the eye results of the primate study (???). One step to the ATH434 eye drops (???).

J Parkinsons Dis

. 2024;14(1):167-180.

doi: 10.3233/JPD-230293.

Altered Outer Retinal Structure, Electrophysiology and Visual Perception in Parkinson's Disease

Katie K N Tran ¹, Pei Ying Lee ¹, David I Finkelstein ², Allison M McKendrick ^{1 3 4}, Bao N Nguyen ¹, Bang V Bui ¹, Christine T O Nguyen ¹

Affiliations expand

• PMID: 38189711

PMCID: PMC10836541 DOI: 10.3233/JPD-230293

Abstract

Background: Visual biomarkers of Parkinson's disease (PD) are attractive as the retina is an outpouching of the brain. Although inner retinal neurodegeneration in PD is well-established this has overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases and thus outer retinal (photoreceptor) measures warrant further investigation.

Objective: To examine in a cross-sectional study whether clinically implementable measures targeting outer retinal function and structure can differentiate PD from healthy ageing and whether these are sensitive to intraday levodopa (L-DOPA) dosing.

Methods: Centre-surround perceptual contrast suppression, macular visual field sensitivity, colour discrimination, light-adapted electroretinography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were tested in PD participants (n = 16) and controls (n = 21). Electroretinography and OCT were conducted before and after midday L-DOPA in PD participants, or repeated after ∼2 hours in controls.

Results: PD participants had decreased center-surround contrast suppression (p < 0.01), reduced macular visual field sensitivity (p < 0.05), color vision impairment (p < 0.01) photoreceptor dysfunction (a-wave, p < 0.01) and photoreceptor neurodegeneration (outer nuclear layer thinning, p < 0.05), relative to controls. Effect size comparison between inner and outer retinal parameters showed that photoreceptor metrics were similarly robust in differentiating the PD group from age-matched controls as inner retinal changes. Electroretinography and OCT were unaffected by L-DOPA treatment or time.

Conclusions: We show that outer retinal outcomes of photoreceptoral dysfunction (decreased cone function and impaired color vision) and degeneration (i.e., outer nuclear layer thinning) were equivalent to inner retinal metrics at differentiating PD from healthy age-matched adults. These findings suggest outer retinal metrics may serve as useful biomarkers for PD.