Fig. 1

Analyses of potential alterations in key inflammatory targets in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients relative to healthy donors (HDs). a Schematic depicting inflammatory molecules assessed by our flow cytometry-based screening assay, including chemokine receptors and adhesion molecules and their key functions. b Flow-cytometric subset analyses of lymphocyte and monocyte distributions in PD patients relative to HDs = displayed as percent of lymphocytes/monocytes (mean and standard deviation). c Heatmap of very late antigen 4 (VLA4) surface expression (mean fluorescence intensity, MFI) in PD patients and HDs on different leucocyte subsets (as measured by flow cytometry). d Statistical analysis of cell surface expression (MFI) of VLA4 on lymphocyte subsets from PD patients and HDs. Statistical analyses were performed using a t-test; ns = non-significant, *p < 0.05. e Boyden chamber migration assay of lymphocytes from PD patients and HDs after chemoattraction with a 100 ng/ml SDF-1α gradient. The graph shows the relative chemotactic response to SDF-1α compared to H₂O as control. Migrated cells were counted using flow cytometry. Statistical analyses were performed using unpaired t-test, *p < 0.05. f Heatmap of sVCAM1 concentration (Invitrogen™ VCAM-1 (Soluble) Human ELISA Kit). All plasma samples from PD patients and HDs were measured in duplicate with the mean visually displayed. g sVCAM1 concentrations in PD patients relative to HDs. Statistical analyses were performed using the t-test, *p < 0.05. h Correlation of sVCAM1 levels observed in patients with the respective Hoehn and Yahr stages. i sVCAM1 concentration correlated with the MDS-UPDRS II (motor aspects of daily living) h, i Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson’s correlation, *p < 0.05