About this Research Topic

Background

This Research Topic focuses on the research highlighting diversity in the genetic and molecular biomarkers of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) worldwide. PD is a complex neurodegenerative disease, and most PD cases are idiopathic. PD is caused by genetics, aging, and environmental factors. About 10 – 15% of PD cases are due to genetic factors. Most of the genetic risk factors of PD are reported from the Caucasian population. For example, the most common causes of PD are GBA, LRRK2, PRKN, SNCA genetic mutations, which could increase the risk of getting PD. The LRRK2 gene mutations are frequent in North American and Jewish families. However, the genetics of PD could only explain less than 10% of all PD cases. This unknown gap suggests that more understanding of genetics, other molecular biomarkers, and the interplay between the genetics-environmental factors involved in PD in other populations such as Black, Asian, and Hispanic are needed. Since PD is a complex disease, the interplay between those genetic, environmental, and aging factors may increase the individual's risk. A better understanding of these elements may become a game-changer that could identify the pathological mechanisms involved in PD in different ethnic groups. This could pave the way to improve the diagnostic criteria for early diagnosis and targeted therapy in the future.

The goal of this Research Topic is to give an overview of the diversity of the genetics and molecular biomarkers focusing on ethnic differences. Interaction between genetic and environmental factors that could lead to distinct phenotypes are also considered for publication, such as:
1) Genetic factors involved in PD of the under-represented ethnic groups.
2) Molecular biomarkers associated with PD in under-represented ethnic groups.
3) Genetic-environment interplay/ interaction in PD.

Keywords: Genetic Diversity, Molecular Biomarkers, Parkinson's Disease, Ethnicity

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