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The Melanocortin 1 Receptor (Mc1r) Variants Do Not Account for the Co-occurrence of Parkinson's Disease and Malignant Melanoma

Journal of Molecular Neuroscience volume 54, pages 820–825 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by loss of melanin-positive dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Malignant melanoma (MM), a melanocyte-derived neoplasm, occurs with higher than expected frequency among PD patients. Red-haired individuals exhibit a threefold risk for developing MM than dark-haired people; PD risk also increases with lighter hair color. One plausible explanation for the associations between MM, hair color, and PD is the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene that plays a key role in hair and skin pigmentation as well as in MM predisposition. We hypothesized that specific MC1R variants may predispose to both MM and PD. Genotyping of the MC1R gene was performed for 16 PD patients with MM (PD+ MM+) and for three sets of age, sex, and ethnically matched controls, including 36 patients with PD (PD+ MM−), 37 with MM (PD− MM+) and 37 with neither diagnosis (PD− MM−). No association was found between MC1R variants and the co-occurrence of PD and MM. The risk for MM was higher in carriers of two MC1R variants versus with no MC1R variant (odds ratio (OR) = 5.0, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.7–14.4, p = 0.003). The risk for PD in carriers of two MC1R variants was markedly lower (OR = 0.213, 95 % CI 0.063-0.725) compared with individuals with no MC1R variant (p = 0.013). In this study, MC1R variants were not associated with both MM and PD. Further studies in larger cohorts are necessary to confirm these preliminary results.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Bharier Medical Fund, in memory of Nat and Sophie Bharier and the Mariana.

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Affiliations

  1. Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Institute, Department of Neurology, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Sandra Elincx-Benizri, Rivka Inzelberg, Lior Greenbaum, Oren S. Cohen, Gilad Yahalom, Yael Orlev & Sharon Hassin-Baer

  2. OncoGenetics Unit, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Yael Laitman & Eitan Friedman

  3. Department of Dermatology, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Alon Scope & Esther Azizi

  4. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Rivka Inzelberg, Oren S. Cohen, Gilad Yahalom, Ruth Djaldetti, Alon Scope, Esther Azizi, Eitan Friedman & Sharon Hassin-Baer

  5. Department of Neurology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tiqva, Israel

    Ruth Djaldetti

  6. Department of Neurology, Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Sandra Elincx-Benizri

Authors
  1. Sandra Elincx-Benizri
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  2. Rivka Inzelberg
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  3. Lior Greenbaum
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  4. Oren S. Cohen
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  5. Gilad Yahalom
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  6. Yael Laitman
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  7. Ruth Djaldetti
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  8. Yael Orlev
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  9. Alon Scope
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  10. Esther Azizi
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  11. Eitan Friedman
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  12. Sharon Hassin-Baer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Elincx-Benizri.

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Elincx-Benizri, S., Inzelberg, R., Greenbaum, L. et al. The Melanocortin 1 Receptor (Mc1r) Variants Do Not Account for the Co-occurrence of Parkinson's Disease and Malignant Melanoma. J Mol Neurosci 54, 820–825 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-014-0425-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-014-0425-1

Keywords

  • Malignant melanoma
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Melanocortin-1 receptor gene