Parkinson's Disease Patients In China Research Articles

Advances in Parkinson's disease induced by α-synuclein transmitted through the gut-brain axis

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease. Along with the population aging of China, the increase of PD patients in China will result in serious economic and medical burdens. The typical pathological characteristics of PD are the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra compacta and the pathological inclusion bodies formed by abnormally aggregated amyloid alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) in dopaminergic neurons, which is also named as Lewy body. Studies have found that the Lewy body exists not only in the central nervous system, but also in the peripheral nervous system. The abundant enteric nervous system in the gut is called the "second brain". The discovery of the gut-brain axis also proves that α-Syn can be transmitted bilaterally between the brain and the gut. The gut microbiota was shown to be involved in the formation and transmission of pathological α-Syn. Therefore, this article summarized the bilateral transmission relationship of α-Syn in the brain and the gut and illustrated the influence of gut microbiota on the abnormal aggregation of α-Syn. Combined with the current progresses on PD patients and animal models especially the non-human primate experiments, this article aimed to provide a reference for the screening and diagnosis of PD.

SNPs in SNCA, MCCC1, DLG2, GBF1 and MBNL2 are associated with Parkinson's disease in southern Chinese population.

Numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which have been identified as susceptibility factors for Parkinson's disease (PD) as per genome‐wide association studies, have not been fully characterized for PD patients in China. This study aimed to replicate the relationship between 12 novel SNPs of 12 genes and PD risk in southern Chinese population. Twelve SNPs of 12 genes were detected in 231 PD patients and 249 controls, using the SNaPshot technique. Meta‐analysis was used to assess heterogeneity of effect sizes between this study and published data. The impact of SNPs on gene expression was investigated by analysing the SNP‐gene association in the expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data sets. rs8180209 of SNCA (allele model: P = .047, OR = 0.77; additive model: P = .047, OR = 0.77), rs2270968 of MCCC1 (dominant model: P = .024, OR = 1.52), rs7479949 of DLG2 (recessive model; P = .019, OR = 1.52), rs10748818 of GBF1 (additive model: P < .001, OR = 0.37), and rs4771268 of MBNL2 (recessive model: P = .003, OR = 0.48) were replicated to be significantly associated with the increased risk of PD. Noteworthy, a meta‐analysis of previous studies suggested rs8180209, rs2270968, rs7479949 and rs4771268 were in line with those of our cohort. Our study replicated five novel functional SNPs in SNCA, MCCC1, DLG2, GBF1 and MBNL2 could be associated with increased risk of PD in southern Chinese population.

A Survey of Application of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Chinese Patients with Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study.

To investigate the prevalence and spectrum of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) application and its related-factors in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in China. A structured questionnaire regarding the use of CAMs was administered to PD patients by face-to-face interview. Demographic and social variables, clinical characteristics and treatments, and the related factors of PD were also surveyed. Ninety out of 113 patients (79.6%) reported that they had received CAMs treatment, of which 48.6% (55/113) patients had received CAMs treatment for PD. The top 3 kinds of CAMs for PD were Chinese materia medica, rehabilitation exercise, and acupuncture ordinally. The source of information regarding CAMs treatment mainly came from relatives and friends (51.8%, 73 cases), followed by physicians (31.9%, 45 cases), and medias such as television, newspapers or the internet (16.3%, 28 cases). Fifty percent of CAM users reported a good therapeutic efficacy, whereas 39% patients reported that they felt neither better nor worse after the treatment, while 11% patients claimed worsening of symptoms. Multiple correspondence analyses survey found the main factors affecting the selectivity of CAMs ranked in the following order: income, education, occupation, habitation, age at onset, Hoehn and Yahr staging, PD duration, and gender. CAMs, especially Chinese materia medica, rehabilitation exercise, and acupuncture, are widely used for PD patients in China.

Effect of PD-WEBB training on balance impairment and falls in people with Parkinson's disease

To determine the effect of Parkinson's disease-weight bearing exercise for better balance (PD-WEBB) exercise on balance impairment and falls in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). A single-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted. The falls efficacy scale score, unified Parkinson disease rating scale (UPDRS) score and Mini-BESTest score were measured and compared between a PD-WEBB group and a control group. The falls efficacy scale score, UPDRS-2 score, UPDRS-3 score and Mini-BESTest score were improved in the PD-WEBB group compared with the control group (P<0.05), with no significant change in UPDRS-1 score between the two groups. PD-WEBB training can significantly improve the balance impairment and quality of life to prevent falls. PD-WEBB training is suitable for PD patients in China, and is a reasonable, effective and sustainable training of family and community assessment model.

Using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale to screen for dementia in Chinese patients with Parkinson's Disease.

BackgroundDementia is one of the most distressing and burdensome health problems associated with Parkinson's Disease (PD). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale (MoCA) is widely used to screen for dementia in PD patients, but the appropriate diagnostic cutoff score when used with Chinese PD patients is not known.AimDetermine a diagnostic cutoff value of the Chinese version of the MoCA (MoCA-C) for Chinese PD patients and describe the characteristics of PD patients screened positive for dementia using the MoCA-C.MethodsThe presence of dementia in 616 PD patients and 85 community controls was determined using the Movement Disorder Society Task Force criteria (the gold standard diagnosis). We administered the MoCA-C to these individuals and used a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to identify the cutoff score of the MoCA-C that most efficiently identified dementia in both PD patients and community controls. Demographic and clinical characteristics of PD patients who were screened positive or negative for dementia using the MoCA-C were compared.ResultsA MoCA-C score of 23 was the optimal cutoff score for dementia in both patients and controls. Using this cutoff score, the sensitivity and specificity of the MoCA-C in PD patients were 0.70 and 0.77, respectively; the positive and negative predictive values were 0.59 and 0.85, respectively; and the overall concordance (kappa [95% confidence interval]) was 0.45 (0.39-0.52). The corresponding kappa value (concordance) in community controls was only 0.25 (0.05-0.45). Compared to PD patients who screened negative for dementia, those who screened positive for dementia were significantly impaired in all cognitive domains, including visuospatial and executive functioning, naming, attention, language, abstraction, delayed recall and orientation (all p<0.001). Among the PD patients, screening positive for dementia was independently associated with old age, low educational attainment, female gender and more severe motor impairment.ConclusionsThe commonly recommended cutoff screening score for dementia of 26 on the MoCA it too high for PD patients in China; a cutoff score of 23 is more appropriate. Potential risk factors for dementia in Chinese PD patients include older age, less education, and more severe motor symptoms of PD.

PO24-TH-06 Movement disorder among new Parkinson disease patients in China

PO24-TH-06 Movement disorder among new Parkinson disease patients in China

Depressive symptoms impacting on health-related quality of life in early Parkinson's disease: Results from Chinese l-dopa exposed cohort

Objective To investigate the impact of depressive symptoms on health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in a group of patients with early Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods A 20-item scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) and a 36-item questionnaire, the medical outcomes study short form (SF-36) were administered as part of baseline assessment of a clinical trial in PD, enrolling 391 early-stage, l-dopa exposed PD patients in China. We used multiple regression models to examine the relationship of depressive symptoms, measured by the CESD with HR-QOL, as measured by the SF-36. The SF-36 score of the depressed patients was compared with those non-depressed, as well. Results A total of 146 (37.3%) patients screened positive for depression. Compared with those non-depressed, depressed patients had lower scores in all dimensions of SF-36 profile ( p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that depressive symptoms, measured by CESD, increased our ability to explain the variance of SF-36 total score by 34.5%. Additionally, depressive symptom is the only variable which has the predictive value not only for total SF-36 total score, but also for each subdimension score of SF-36 profile. Conclusion Depressive symptoms are common early in the disease, having a substantial impact on patients’ HR-QOL, affecting many areas other than the obvious mental health dimension of the HR-QOL profile. Our results highlight the broad importance of treating depression in this population.