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Eur J Neurol 2019 Apr 21. Epub 2019 Apr 21.

Department of Community Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Public Health Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Background And Purpose: The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is experiencing a demographic shift towards rapid ageing at a time of political unrest. We aimed to estimate the burden of neurodegenerative disorders, and its relationship with sociodemographic indicators (SDI) in the EMR countries from 1990 to 2016.

Methods: Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2016 study, we calculated country-specific trends for prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), years of life lost (YLLs), and years lived with disability (YLDs) for Alzheimer's disease/other dementias and Parkinson's disease in the EMR during 1990-2016. Read More

Brain Pathol 2019 Apr 21. Epub 2019 Apr 21.

Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Brain Science, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, 5 Zaifu-cho, Hirosaki, 036-8562, Japan.

Posttranslational modifications by phosphorylation, ubiquitination, neddylation, and other pathways have emerged as major regulators of cellular functions. NEDD8 ultimate buster 1, NUB1, is an adaptor protein, which negatively regulates the levels of the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 as well as neddylated proteins through proteasomal degradation. We previously reported that NUB1 is highly involved in the pathogenesis of synucleinopathy including Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and multiple system atrophy (MSA). Read More

J Neurol Sci 2019 Apr 9;401:37-42. Epub 2019 Apr 9.

Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense Madrid (UCM), Spain; Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Spain.

Wearable technology used in Parkinson's disease (PD) research has become an increasing focus of interest in this field. Our group assessed the feasibility, clinical correlation, reliability, and acceptance of smartwatches in order to quantify arm resting tremors in PD patients. An Android application on a smartwatch was used to obtain raw data from the smartwatch's gyroscopes. Read More

J Neurol Sci 2019 Apr 11;401:19-26. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Neurology Kato Clinic, 4-5-36 Ichinoki, Ise City, Mie Prefecture 516-0071, Japan.

Differential diagnosis between Parkinson's disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonism, such as multiple system atrophy (MSA), can be difficult, especially in the early stages of the disease. Deep learning using neural networks (NNs) makes possible the prediction of the diagnosis using various types of biomarkers, unlike conventional linear statistics. We aimed to differentiate the Parkinson's variant of MSA (MSA-P) from PD both in the early stages by clinical utilization of NN analyses before the hot cross-bun and putaminal rim imaging features of MSA appeared. Read More

Eur J Med Chem 2019 Apr 12;173:203-212. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Beijing Key Laboratory of Active Substances Discovery and Druggability Evaluation, State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China. Electronic address:

Due to the complexity of the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), multimodal treatment may achieve better results. In this study, a series of coumarin Mannich base derivatives were designed and synthesized as multifunctional agents for PD treatment. Among the derivatives, 3-(3-(dimethylamino)propanoyl)-7-hydroxy-5-methyl- 2H-chromen-2-one hydrochloride (24) exhibited the most potent and selective hMAO-B inhibitory activity, and anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects in the in vitro studies. Read More

Chem Biol Interact 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Blood Transfusion, Central Hospital of Linyi, No. 17, Health Road, Yishui County, 276400, Linyi City, Shandong Province, China. Electronic address:

Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most prevalent age-related neurodegenerative disease, occurs as a result of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Long non-coding RNA-p21 (lnc-p21) has been demonstrated to be upregulated in PD. However, its role in PD is unknown. Read More

Neurology 2019 Apr 19. Epub 2019 Apr 19.

From the Section of Neurology (H.A.-N., F.J.J.-J.), Hospital Universitario del Sureste, Arganda del Rey, Madrid; and University Institute of Molecular Pathology Biomarkers (E.G.-M., J.A.G.A), UNEx, ARADyAL Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cáceres, Spain.

Objective: This review focuses on the possible association between restless legs syndrome (RLS) and movement disorders, including Parkinson disease (PD), other parkinsonian syndromes, essential tremor, choreic and dystonic syndromes, Tourette syndrome, and heredodegenerative ataxias.

Methods: Review of PubMed from 1966 to September 2018 and identification of references of interest for the topic. A meta-analysis of eligible studies on the frequency of RLS in patients with PD and controls using Meta-DiSc1. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Biological Sciences, St. John's University, New York, NY, USA
. Electronic address:

Introduction: As current clinical diagnostic protocols for Parkinson's disease (PD) may be prone to inaccuracies there is a need to identify and validate molecular biomarkers, such as circulating microRNAs, which will complement current practices and increase diagnostic accuracy. This study identifies, verifies and validates combinatory serum microRNA signatures as diagnostic classifiers of PD across different patient cohorts.

Methods: 370 PD (drug naïve) and control serum samples from the Norwegian ParkWest study were used for identification and verification of differential microRNA levels in PD which were validated in a blind study using 64 NY Parkinsonism in UMeå (NYPUM) study serum samples and tested for specificity in 48 Dementia Study of Western Norway (DemWest) study Alzheimer's disease (AD) serum samples using miRNA-microarrays, and quantitative (q) RT-PCR. Read More

Mov Disord 2019 Apr 19. Epub 2019 Apr 19.

Department of Translational Science & Molecular Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.

Background: Levodopa-induced dyskinesias are an often debilitating side effect of levodopa therapy in Parkinson's disease. Although up to 90% of individuals with PD develop this side effect, uniformly effective and well-tolerated antidyskinetic treatment remains a significant unmet need. The pathognomonic loss of striatal dopamine in PD results in dysregulation and disinhibition of striatal CaV1. Read More

Int J Med Mushrooms 2019 ;21(4):401-411

College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City, Taiwan.

Recently, erinacine A-enriched Hericium erinaceus (EAHE) mycelia have demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in animal models of neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer and Parkinson disease. Despite promising results from animal models, there have been no reports on its toxicity after long-term consumption. Hence, the present study was designed to evaluate the safety of EAHE mycelia through a 13-week subchronic rodent feeding study. Read More

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2019 13;2019:8920813. Epub 2019 Mar 13.

Department of Chinese Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

Autophagy plays an important role in the development of Parkinson disease (PD). Previous studies showed that autophagy could protect cells from -synuclein toxicity and promote functional coupling of mitochondria. But it is still a question whether modulating autophagy can be used to treat PD. Read More

Front Genet 2019 2;10:226. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.

Identifying genes associated with Parkinson's disease plays an extremely important role in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease. In recent years, based on the guilt-by-association hypothesis, many methods have been proposed to predict disease-related genes, but few of these methods are designed or used for Parkinson's disease gene prediction. In this paper, we propose a novel prediction method for Parkinson's disease gene prediction, named N2A-SVM. Read More

Front Neurol 2019 2;10:300. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019. Read More

J Voice 2019 Apr 15. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

Facultad de Ciencias de la Rehabilitacion, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile. Electronic address:

Introduction: In individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), pulmonary complication such as weakness and rigidity of respiratory muscles and reduced cough airflow may be associated with reduced voice production due to limited pulmonary capacity and reduced airflow needed to vibrate the vocal folds. It is not clear, however, which pulmonary function parameter is determinant in the association with peak subglottic pressure (SGP). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the association between peak SGP and pulmonary function parameters in individuals with PD. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2019 Apr 13. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address:

Introduction: Although turning during walking is known to trigger freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD), little is known about kinematic strategies used by individuals with PD and FOG while performing prolonged turning.

Objective: Our aim was to compare gait and trunk kinematics during straight walking and continuous turning over 20-min in PD with and without FOG.

Methods: 18 individuals with idiopathic PD (n = 9 with FOG, n = 9 without FOG), performed two 20-min walking tasks: straight ahead, and turning, in a laboratory setting in their OFF medication state. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience & Cork Neuroscience Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; Department of Physiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address:

Introduction: α-synuclein-induced degeneration of dopaminergic neurons has been proposed to be central to the early progression of Parkinson's disease. This highlights the need to identify factors that are neuroprotective or neuroregenerative against α-synuclein-induced degeneration. Due to their potent neurotrophic effects on nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons, we hypothesized that members of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family have potential to protect these cells against α-synuclein. Read More

PLoS One 2019 18;14(4):e0215384. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Centre and the Edmond J Safra Program in Parkinson's Research, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Background: Successful patient-physician communication is critical for improving health outcomes, but research regarding optimal communication practices in Parkinson's disease is limited. The objective of the current study was to investigate barriers and facilitators of communication between persons with Parkinson's disease, carepartners, and physicians, specifically in the setting of off periods, with the goal of identifying ways to improve patient-carepartner-physician communication.

Method: We interviewed persons with Parkinson's, carepartners, and physicians (specialists and non-specialists) using a semi-structured questionnaire to identify and describe experiences, barriers, and facilitators relating to communication about off periods in Parkinson's disease. Read More

Neurodegener Dis Manag 2019 Apr 18. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA.

This study investigated the usability of a mobile health (mHealth) smartphone application to treat gait, speech and dexterity in people with Parkinson's disease. Participants either used an mHealth application (intervention) or maintained their normal routine (control) for 12 weeks and were evaluated at baseline and post-test time points for primary outcome measures of adherence, gait, speech and dexterity. mHealth application adherence was compared with percent change scores on gait, speech and dexterity measures. Read More

J Neurol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Basic and Clinical Neurosciences, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK.

Objective: To identify associated (non-)motor profiles of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with hyperhidrosis as a dominant problem.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional, exploratory, analysis of participants enrolled in the Non-motor Longitudinal International Study (NILS; UKCRN No: 10084) at the Parkinson's Centre at King's College Hospital (London, UK). Hyperhidrosis scores (yes/no) on question 28 of the Non-Motor Symptom Questionnaire were used to classify patients with normal sweat function (n = 172) and excessive sweating (n = 56) (Analysis 1; n = 228). Read More

Neurol Int 2019 Mar 11;11(1):7815. Epub 2019 Mar 11.

Radiology Unit, Surgi-Med Clinic.

A 56-year-old Afro-Trinidadian woman with a history of a carbidopa-levodopa resistance Parkinsonian-like syndrome for 2 years, presented with acute onset spastic quadriplegia and decreased responsiveness. Diagnosis involved clinical and MR-imaging correlation consistent with a large left posterior fossa meningioma. Surgical removal of the tumor led to complete reversibility of the neurological manifestations associated with cerebellar tonsillar herniation beyond the foramen magnum and mass effect on the brainstem, cerebellum and midbrain regions. Read More

Intern Med 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Neurology, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Japan.

Various methods of rehabilitation for dysphagia have been suggested through the experience of treating stroke patients. Although most of these patients recover their swallowing function in a short period, dysphagia in Parkinson's disease (PD) and Parkinson-related disorder (PRD) degenerates with disease progression. Muscle rigidity and bradykinesia are recognized as causes of swallowing dysfunction, and it is difficult to easily apply the strategies for stroke to the rehabilitation of dysphagia in PD patients. Read More

Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019 Apr 14. Epub 2019 Apr 14.

Island Medical Program, University of British Columbia, Victoria, BC, Canada; Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada. Electronic address:

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder and a major cause of disability worldwide. This neurological condition is commonly associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Huntington's Disease (HD), and has a significant impact on the increasing burden of these neuropathologies. Over the past decades, some of the pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms that contribute to these diseases have been elucidated and these findings indicate that, despite presenting distinct features, there are several similarities between the neurobiological alterations that lead to MDD and neurodegeneration in AD, PD and HD. Read More

AJR Am J Roentgenol 2019 Apr 17:1-6. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

1 Department of Radiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.

Parkinson disease is characterized by dopaminergic neuron loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta resulting in presynaptic nigrostriatal dopamine dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to search for an optimal image biomarker to quantify the severity of Parkinson disease by comparing neuromelanin MRI and dopamine transporter SPECT. Forty patients with Parkinson disease (Hoehn and Yahr [HY] stage 1, four patients; stage 2, 18 patients; stage 3, eight patients; stage 4, six patients; stage 5, four patients) who underwent neuromelanin MRI and dopamine transporter SPECT were included. Read More

J Agric Food Chem 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Neuroinflammation is intensively demonstrated to be related with various neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Alzheimer disease (AD). As a natural polymethoxylated flavone, Nobiletin (NOB) is reported to alleviate oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and obesity. In this study, we evaluated the protection effects of NOB on neuroinflammation and memory deficit. Read More

Hum Mol Genet 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

McGill Parkinson Program, Neurodegenerative Diseases Group, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Mutations in Parkin (PARK2), which encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase implicated in mitophagy, are the most common cause of early onset Parkinson's Disease (PD). Hundreds of naturally occurring Parkin variants have been reported, both in PD patient and population databases. However, the effects of the majority of these variants on the function of Parkin and in PD pathogenesis remains unknown. Read More

Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.

Background: Inflammation appears to play a role in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. However, little is known about inflammation during early stages of cognitive decline or whether this differs in different disease groups. We sought to investigate this by assessing the inflammatory profile in patients with Parkinson's disease with the early stages of cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), patients with prodromal Alzheimer's disease (MCI-AD), prodromal Lewy Body disease (MCI-LB) and controls. Read More

Nat Rev Neurol 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Division of Neurology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.

In the originally published article, one of the affiliations for Paul Krack was omitted - these should have included 'Movement Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, University Hospital (Inselspital) and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.' This error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the manuscript. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Apr 16;9(1):6151. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Research and Innovation (R&I Genetics) s.r.l., Padova, Italy.

Early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains a challenge to date. New evidence highlights the potential clinical value of circulating trace amines (TAs) in early-stage PD and their involvement in disease progression. A new ultra performance chromatography mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed to quantify plasmatic TAs, and the catecholamines and indolamines pertaining to the same biochemical pathways. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Neurology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. Electronic address:

Introduction: Gait and balance disorders are common clinical features of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although falls significantly affect the activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) of patients with PD, the underlying neural mechanisms associated with frequent falls in PD patients are still unclear.

Methods: Hypothesizing that the cerebral cortex would contribute to frequent falls in PD, we obtained 3D T1-weighted images from 91 non-dementia patients with PD and performed voxel-based morphometric analysis (VBM). Read More

Environ Pollut 2019 Apr 8;250:107-117. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Department of Toxicogenomics, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 6229, ER Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a class of widespread environmental pollutants, commonly found in human blood, that have been suggested to be linked to the occurrence of sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). It has been reported that some non-coplanar PCBs accumulate in the brains of female PD patients. To improve our understanding of the association between PCB exposure and PD risk we have applied whole transcriptome gene expression analysis in blood cells from 594 PCB-exposed subjects (369 female, 225 male). Read More

Behav Brain Res 2019 Apr 13:111911. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Department of General Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Background: Impulsivity is an enduring personality trait that is highly relevant for the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. Although impulse control disorders (ICD) are well-characterized non-motor features in Parkinson's disease (PD), mainly related to medication, little is known about neural correlates reflecting trait aspects of impulsivity in PD patients. Here, we address the question whether motor, attentional and non-planning components, measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), are distinctly related to cortical thickness and cortical folding abnormalities in PD when compared to age-matched healthy controls (HC). Read More

Exp Ther Med 2019 May 14;17(5):3800-3806. Epub 2019 Mar 14.

Department of Neurology, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230001, P.R. China.

Currently available treatments for Parkinson's disease (PD) do not delay or prevent disease development and progression. DL-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP), isolated from seeds, alleviates oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. It has been revealed to reduce the loss of dopamine neurons in pre-clinical PD models, and has been approved for the treatment of ischemic stroke patients. Read More

Kobe J Med Sci 2019 Feb 21;64(5):E180-E188. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan.

Purpose: This study assessed the symptoms, treatment, social systems use, and perception of living conditions of patients with young-onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD), and investigated the support needed by them.

Method: Among the 252 people who completed our questionnaire, we defined YOPD patients as those diagnosed as young onset or those with onset at ≤40 years. The data were compared with others. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2019 Apr 8. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Neuromotor Rehabilitation Research Group, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address:

Introduction: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can suffer from sudden movement arrests during upper limb tasks. The current study investigated a test to assess freezing of the upper limbs (FOUL) at two speed conditions to improve the sensitivity of FOUL detection.

Methods: Forty-nine patients with PD and 10 age-matched controls (HC) performed a freezing-provoking writing task, requiring up- and down-stroke writing at varying sizes in-between visual target zones indicating funnel-shapes on a touch-sensitive tablet. Read More

Enferm Clin 2019 Apr 12. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Servicio de Medicina Interna, Xerencia Integrada de Ourense, Verín e Barco de Valdeorras, España.

Objective: To discover through the patients themselves the process of coexisting with Parkinson's disease.

Method: Qualitative study of phenomenological approach. The sample consisted of 6 participants. Read More

Neuroimage Clin 2019 Mar 20:101758. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Unit of Functional Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK.

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2019 Mar 20. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Movement Disorders Program, Butler Hospital; Division of Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University; and School of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island. Electronic address:

Neurochem Int 2019 Apr 12. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar, 788011, Assam, India. Electronic address:

Garcinol, the principal phytoconstituent of plants belonging to the genus, Garcinia, is known for its anti-oxidant as well as anti-inflammatory properties, which can be extended to its possible neuroprotective role. Recent reports disseminate the capacity of garcinol to influence neuronal growth and survival, alter the neurochemical status in brain, as well as regulate memory and cognition. The concomitant neuro-rescue property of garcinol may render it as an effective compound in Parkinson's disease (PD) therapeutics since it is capable of ameliorating the related pathophysiological changes. Read More

Eur J Neurol 2019 Apr 15. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

Center for Neurodegenerative Disease-CEMAND, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry "Scuola Medica Salernitana", University of Salerno, Baronissi, SA, Italy.

Background: Parkinson disease patients are classically classified according to two alternative motor subtyping methods: 1) tremor dominant vs postural instability and gait disorder (PIGD); and 2) tremor dominant vs Akinetic-Rigid.

Objective: We sought to examine: 1) the degree of overlap between the two classification systems at diagnosis of PD, and 2) their temporal stability, as well as the correspondence between the two systems, over a follow-up period 4 years.

Methods: Newly diagnosed, untreated PD patients were classified as tremor-dominant vs PIGD and tremor-dominant vs Akinetic-Rigid at baseline and after 2 and 4 years. Read More

Alzheimers Dement (Amst) 2019 Dec 2;11:301-309. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Introduction: Therapeutic strategies targeting protein aggregations are ready for clinical trials in atypical parkinsonian disorders. Therefore, there is an urgent need for neuroimaging biomarkers to help with the early detection of neurodegenerative processes, the early differentiation of the underlying pathology, and the objective assessment of disease progression. However, there currently is not yet a consensus in the field on how to describe utility of biomarkers for clinical trials in atypical parkinsonian disorders. Read More

Toxicol Rep 2019 22;6:267-271. Epub 2019 Mar 22.

Department of chemistry and biochemistry, Medical Faculty, Trakia University, 11 Armeiska Str., 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a multifactorial disease that takes a leading place among contemporary frequent diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) with not well-established mechanism. One of the most popular and effective therapy for patients with PD is Levodopa (L-dopa), but clinical effect of the drug diminished by motor complications resulting from prolonged treatment. Due to the L-dopa neurotoxic effect in the disease treatment, the L-dopa administration is delayed as long as possible in order to avoid side effects. Read More

Transl Neurodegener 2019 3;8:11. Epub 2019 Apr 3.

1Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig Holstein, Arnold-Heller Str. 3, 24105 Kiel, Germany.

Background: IgG-class autoantibodies to N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors define a novel entity of autoimmune encephalitis. Studies examining the prevalence of NMDA IgA/IgM antibodies in patients with Parkinson disease with/without dementia produced conflicting results. We measured NMDA antibodies in a large, well phenotyped sample of Parkinson patients without and with cognitive impairment ( = 296) and controls ( = 295) free of neuropsychiatric disease. Read More

Front Neurol 2019 28;10:297. Epub 2019 Mar 28.

Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.

Ischemic stroke (IS) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are two neurological diseases that often strike individuals of advanced age. Although thought of as a disease of old age, PD can occur in younger patients. In many of these cases, genetic mutations underlie the disease. Read More

Front Neurol 2019 28;10:290. Epub 2019 Mar 28.

Department of Stomatology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China.

A number of studies have reported that aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 () polymorphisms maybe associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the results of such studies are inconsistent. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to clarify the association between polymorphisms and the risk of AD and PD. Read More

Front Neurosci 2019 29;13:277. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Faculty of Science, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder that progresses with age, with an increasing number of symptoms. Some of the efforts to understand PD progression have been focusing on the regulation of epigenetic mechanisms, that generally include small molecular modifications to the DNA and histones that are essential for regulating gene activity. Here, we have pointed out difficulties to untangle genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, and reviewed several studies that have aimed for untangling. Read More

Front Neurosci 2019 29;13:271. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, ICBM, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Front Neurosci 2019 29;13:270. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Neuromodulation, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States.

Decisions are made through the integration of external and internal inputs until a threshold is reached, triggering a response. The subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been implicated in adjusting the decision bound to prevent impulsivity during difficult decisions. We combine model-based and model-free approaches to test the theory that the STN raises the decision bound, a process impaired by deep brain stimulation (DBS). Read More

Autophagy 2019 Apr 14:1-24. Epub 2019 Apr 14.

a Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine , University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital , Hong Kong S.A.R. , China.

Parkinson disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder associated with misfolded SNCA/α-synuclein accumulation in brain. Impaired catabolism of SNCA potentiates formation of its toxic oligomers. LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase-2) mutations predispose to familial and sporadic PD. Read More

Mov Disord 2019 Apr 14. Epub 2019 Apr 14.

Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.

Stem Cell Reports 2019 Apr 2. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, 4362 Belvaux, Luxembourg. Electronic address:

Emerging evidence suggests that Parkinson's disease (PD), besides being an age-associated disorder, might also have a neurodevelopment component. Disruption of mitochondrial homeostasis has been highlighted as a crucial cofactor in its etiology. Here, we show that PD patient-specific human neuroepithelial stem cells (NESCs), carrying the LRRK2-G2019S mutation, recapitulate key mitochondrial defects previously described only in differentiated dopaminergic neurons. Read More