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Serum epidermal growth factor predicts cognitive functions in early, drug-naive Parkinson’s disease patients

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Abstract

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been proposed as a candidate biomarker for cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD). We aimed to assess the relationship between serum EGF and cognitive functions in early, drug-naive PD patients and evaluate the predictive value of EGF on cognitive functions in a 2-year follow-up study. Serum EGF was measured in 65 early, drug-naive PD patients, that underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Motor symptoms were assessed by means of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, Part III (UPDRS-III). Neuropsychological evaluation was repeated after 2 years. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to assess the relationship between serum EGF levels and neuropsychological variables. Linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between EGF and neuropsychological scores as well as other variables (age, gender, UPDRS-III, levodopa equivalent dose, and type of treatment at follow-up) potentially affecting cognitive performance. Variation over time in cognitive scores was analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. At baseline, EGF was the only significant variable associated with performance on semantic fluency (R 2 = 0.131; p = 0.005). EGF levels (p = 0.025), together with UPDRS-III (p = 0.009) and age (p = 0.011), were associated with performance on frontal assessment battery (R 2 = 0.260). At 2-year follow-up, EGF was the only significant variable to predict performance on semantic fluency (R 2 = 0.147; p = 0.025) and color naming task of Stroop color-word test (R 2 = 0.121; p = 0.044). Serum EGF levels are related to frontal and temporal cognitive functions in early, drug-naive PD patients and predict performance on frontal and posterior cognitive functions at 2-year follow-up. EGF is proposed as a potential serum biomarker for early cognitive impairment in PD.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical standards

All human studies must state that they have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Salerno, 84131, Salerno, Italy

    Maria Teresa Pellecchia & Paolo Barone

  2. Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy

    Gabriella Santangelo

  3. IDC Hermitage-Capodimonte, Naples, Italy

    Gabriella Santangelo, Katia Longo, Carmine Vitale & Marianna Amboni

  4. Department of Neurological Sciences, Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    Marina Picillo, Anna De Rosa, Marcello Moccia, Roberto Erro, Giuseppe De Michele & Lucio Santoro

  5. Department of Molecular and Clinical Endocrinology and Oncology, Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    Rosario Pivonello, Claudia Pivonello & Annamaria Colao

  6. University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy

    Carmine Vitale

Authors
  1. Maria Teresa Pellecchia
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  2. Gabriella Santangelo
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  3. Marina Picillo
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  9. Anna De Rosa
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  15. Paolo Barone
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Correspondence to Paolo Barone.

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Pellecchia, M.T., Santangelo, G., Picillo, M. et al. Serum epidermal growth factor predicts cognitive functions in early, drug-naive Parkinson’s disease patients. J Neurol 260, 438–444 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6648-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6648-6

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