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Relation of risk factors and putative premotor markers for Parkinson’s disease

  • Movement Disorders - Original Article
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Abstract

As both risk and premotor markers are increasingly discussed to play a key role in the pre-diagnostic phase of Parkinson’s disease (PD) the aim of this study was to determine the relation between the risk factors hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra (SN+) and/or positive family history of PD (faPD+) and putative premotor markers for PD. In a cross-sectional analysis of data of the PRIPS cohort, 1,149 volunteers older than 50 years free of PD were included. In addition to the risk factors SN+ and faPD+, olfactory dysfunction was tested using the Sniffin’ sticks test and motor examination was performed. History of depression and constipation was evaluated by a semi-structured interview. Of all 1,149 individuals, 880 had none of the risk markers (76.6%), 143 persons (12.4%) had SN+, 84 (7.3%) were classified as faPD+ and 42 (3.7%) persons had both risk factors. Volunteers with SN+ showed olfactory dysfunction and mild motor impairment (p ≤ 0.001) more often. Depression was more prominent in individuals having two risk factors (p = 0.05). An accumulation of premotor markers was seen in the SN+ group with or without concomitant faPD+, but not in persons with faPD+ only. The profile of premotor markers seems to differ in participants having SN+ and/or faPD+, with SN+ showing the overall highest association with most premotor markers, which implies that SN+ might be a strong indicator for a neurodegenerative process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurodegeneration, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Hoppe-Seyler Str. 3, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    I. Liepelt-Scarfone, J. Godau, K. J. Schweitzer, B. Wolf, A. Gaenslen & D. Berg

  2. Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, German Center of Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany

    I. Liepelt-Scarfone & D. Berg

  3. Department of Neurology, University of Homburg/Saar, Homburg, Germany

    S. Behnke

Authors
  1. I. Liepelt-Scarfone
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  2. S. Behnke
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  3. J. Godau
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  4. K. J. Schweitzer
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  5. B. Wolf
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  6. A. Gaenslen
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  7. D. Berg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. Berg.

Additional information

I. Liepelt-Scarfone and S. Behnke contributed equally to this work.

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Liepelt-Scarfone, I., Behnke, S., Godau, J. et al. Relation of risk factors and putative premotor markers for Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm 118, 579–585 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-010-0553-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-010-0553-x

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