Neuroendocrine abnormalities are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and include disruption of melatonin secretion, disturbances of glucose, insulin resistance and bone metabolism, and body weight changes. They have been associated with multiple non-motor symptoms in PD and have important clinical consequences, including therapeutics. Some of the underlying mechanisms have been implicated in the pa

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that specific mutations in the β-glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) causing neuropathic Gaucher's disease (GD) in homozygotes lead to aggressive cognitive decline in heterozygous Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, whereas non-neuropathic GD mutations confer intermediate progression rates.METHODS: A total of 2,304 patients with PD and 20,868 longitudinal visits for up to 12.8

Abnormalities of tau protein are central to the pathogenesis of progressive supranuclear palsy, whereas haplotype variation of the tau gene MAPT influences the risk of Parkinson disease and Parkinson's disease dementia. We assessed whether regional MAPT expression might be associated with selective vulnerability of global brain networks to neurodegenerative pathology. Using task-free functional ma

BACKGROUND: Impaired olfaction is an important feature in Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurological diseases. A variety of smell identification tests exist such as "Sniffin' Sticks" and the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT). An important part of research is being able to replicate findings or combining studies in a meta-analysis. This is difficult if olfaction has

Understanding human embryonic ventral midbrain is of major interest for Parkinson's disease. However, the cell types, their gene expression dynamics, and their relationship to commonly used rodent models remain to be defined. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing to examine ventral midbrain development in human and mouse. We found 25 molecularly defined human cell types, including five subtypes

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) influences phenotypic variation in Parkinson's disease (PD), and is usually an indication for statin therapy. It is less clear whether cardiovascular risk factors influence PD phenotype, and if statins are prescribed appropriately.OBJECTIVES: To quantify vascular risk and statin use in recent-onset PD, and examine the relationship between vascular risk, PD

Recently it has been shown that there is impaired cerebral endothelial function in many chronic neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease. Such problems have also been reported in Parkinson's disease, in which α-synuclein aggregation is the pathological hallmark. However, little is known about the relationship between misfolded α-synuclein and endothelial function.

Pre-B-cell leukemia homeobox (PBX) transcription factors are known to regulate organogenesis, but their molecular targets and function in midbrain dopaminergic neurons (mDAn) as well as their role in neurodegenerative diseases are unknown. Here, we show that PBX1 controls a novel transcriptional network required for mDAn specification and survival, which is sufficient to generate mDAn from human s

Parkinson's disease impairs the inhibition of responses, and whilst impulsivity is mild for some patients, severe impulse control disorders affect ∼10% of cases. Based on preclinical models we proposed that noradrenergic denervation contributes to the impairment of response inhibition, via changes in the prefrontal cortex and its subcortical connections. Previous work in Parkinson's disease found

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between vascular disease (and vascular risk factors), cognition and motor phenotype in Parkinson's disease (PD).METHODS: Recently diagnosed PD cases were enrolled in a multicenter prospective observational longitudinal cohort study. Montreal cognitive assessment (normal >23, mild cognitive impairment 22 to 23 or lower but without

Impaired attentional flexibility is considered to be one of the core cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the mechanisms that underlie this impairment are contested. Progress in resolving this dispute has also been hindered by the fact that cognitive deficits in PD are heterogeneous; therefore, it is unclear whether attentional impairments are only present in a subgroup of pati

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) presents its 2016 Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation (ISSCR, 2016). The 2016 guidelines reflect the revision and extension of two past sets of guidelines (ISSCR, 2006; ISSCR, 2008) to address new and emerging areas of stem cell discovery and application and evolving ethical, social, and policy challenges. These guidel

BACKGROUND: Measuring microstructure alterations with diffusion tensor imaging in PD is potentially a valuable tool to use as a biomarker for early diagnosis and to track disease progression. Previous studies have reported a specific decrease of nigral fractional anisotropy in PD. However, to date the effect of disease progression on nigral or striatal diffusion indices has not been fully explored

INTRODUCTION: Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) is associated with poorer quality of life (QoL). Prior to the onset of PDD, many patients experience progressive cognitive impairment. There is a paucity of longitudinal studies investigating the effects of cognitive decline on QoL. This study aimed to determine the longitudinal impact of cognitive change on QoL in an incident PD cohort.METHODS: Rec

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) can cause impulsivity with premature responses, but there are several potential mechanisms. We proposed a distinction between poor decision-making and the distortion of temporal perception. Both effects may be present and interact, but with different clinical and pharmacological correlates.OBJECTIVES: This study assessed premature responding during time percept

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease has been reported in a small number of patients with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. In this study, we screened a series of large, independent Parkinson's disease case-control studies for deletions at 22q11.2.METHODS: We used data on deletions spanning the 22q11.2 locus from four independent case-control Parkinson's disease studies (UK Wellcome Trust Case Cont

BACKGROUND: The detection of prodromal Parkinson's disease (PD) is desirable to test drugs with neuroprotective potential, but will be affected by known disease variations.OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of four key non-motor prodromal PD markers, and evaluate the sensitivity of case detection when non-motor screening tools for prodromal PD are implemented in an early clinical PD cohort.METHOD

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have long been used to produce safe and high quality products as they are potential producers of a wide range of antimicrobial compounds that exert either narrow or wide spectrum antimicrobial activity towards spoilage or disease-causing organisms. The present investigation aimed to study the antimicrobial effect of three LAB strains, viz., Lactobacillus plantarum (86),