Abstract
Background and Objectives: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative condition responsible for progressive motor and non-motor symptoms. Currently, no prophylactic or disease-modifying interventions are available. Uric acid (UA) is a potent endogenous antioxidant, resulting from purine metabolism. It is responsible for about half of the antioxidant capacity of the plasma. Increasing evidence suggests that lower serum UA levels are associated with an increased risk of developing PD and with faster disease progression. Materials and Methods: We conducted an electronic medical record database study to investigate the associations between UA levels and different characteristics of PD. Results: Out of 274 datasets from distinct patients with PD, 49 complied with the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Lower UA levels were significantly associated with the severity of parkinsonism according to the Hoehn and Yahr stage (rs = 0.488, p = 0.002), with the motor complications of long-term dopaminergic treatment (r = 0.333, p = 0.027), and with the presence of neurocognitive impairment (r = 0.346, p = 0.021). Conclusions: Oxidative stress is considered a key player in the etiopathogenesis of PD, therefore the involvement of lower UA levels in the development and progression of PD is plausible. Data on the potential therapeutic roles of elevating serum UA (e.g., by precursor administration or diet manipulation) are scarce, but considering the accumulating epidemiological evidence, the topic warrants further research.
Highlights
Published: 6 February 2022Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition affecting over 6 million people worldwide [1]
Disability is caused by the coexistence and progression of non-motor symptoms, which may precede the onset of parkinsonism by several years [3]
Motor complications were present in 33.3% of the patients (n = 15), neurocognitive impairment was found in 32.7% (n = 16), and cerebrovascular disease in 26.5% (n = 13)
Summary
Published: 6 February 2022Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition affecting over 6 million people worldwide [1]. Parkinsonism, the motor aspect of the disease, is caused by the degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta [2] It consists of bradykinesia, with resting tremor and/or rigidity, accompanied by freezing and postural instability [3]. Disability is caused by the coexistence and progression of non-motor symptoms, which may precede the onset of parkinsonism by several years [3]. These nonmotor symptoms range from hyposmia, neurocognitive impairment, and dysautonomia (e.g., chronic constipation, orthostatic hypotension, etc.), to rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, sensitive symptoms, and olfactory hallucinations [4,5]. Data on the potential therapeutic roles of elevating serum UA (e.g., by precursor administration or diet manipulation) are scarce, but considering the accumulating epidemiological evidence, the topic warrants further research
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