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Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a common, yet under-reported non-motor symptom of PD. Common sexual symptoms among male PD patients include erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, and decreased sexual desire. Few research papers have examined sexual dysfunction in PD, especially in YOPD male patients, and there is no Indian research study on sexual dysfunction in YOPD. In this study, we determined the frequency of sexual dysfunction in men with YOPD, and its correlation with other motor and NMS. This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on YOPD males who presented to the Department of Neurology, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India, from May 2021 to April 2023. The diagnosis of YOPD was made based on MDS criteria for IPD 2015. Sexual functions were evaluated by ASEX, PEDT, QUIP-RS, and sex hormone assay. The patients also underwent other motor and non-motor assessments. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 22.0. The study was funded by the PDMD fund. This study included 62 male YOPD patients. The mean age of cases was 44.74 ± 8.54 years. The mean duration of symptoms was 8.45 ± 6.23 years. 43.5% of the cases of PD were Akinetic rigid type. By ASEX Score grading, 46.8% of the cases had erectile dysfunction and 71% of the cases of YOPD had premature ejaculation by PEDT Score grading. 9.7% of the cases had hypersexuality by QUIP-RS. Duration of YOPD was a better predictor of Erectile Dysfunction and premature ejaculation when compared with other variables. SD was related to anxiety and depression and it had a negative impact on the patient's health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). SD should be investigated and treated as an integral part of the neurological assessment in YOPD., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

The depletion of dopamine levels in the brain due to degeneration of dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra pars compacta is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). The cumulative contribution of genetic variations in genes from the dopaminergic pathway has been widely implicated to confer susceptibility to idiopathic PD. We present in this paper an extensive association analysis of a total of 20 markers including single nucleotide polymorphism/short tandem repeat/variable number tandem repeat/duplication markers from five candidate genes (namely, dopamine receptors DRD1, DRD2, DRD3, and DRD4, and dopamine transporter) with PD among two independent sample sets. The allelic, genotypic, and haplotypic association of these markers with PD was tested in South Indian (SI) samples (147 cases, 130 controls) and replicated in a larger North Indian (NI) sample set (340 cases, 344 controls). Of the several markers analyzed, 120 bp duplication marker of DRD4 gene showed promising results with PD in both of the sample sets. A significant allelic association in SI [odds ratio, OR (95% confidence interval, CI)=0.67 (0.47-0.97) for 120 bp dup; 1.48 (1.03-2.13) for 120 bp WT] and genotypic association in SI [OR (95% CI)= 0.56 (0.35-0.91) for 120 bp dup/dup; 1.62 (0.99-2.64) for 120 bp dup/120 bp WT] and in NI [OR (95% CI)= 1.41 (1.03-1.93) for 120 bp dup/120 bp WT] was observed. This is the first report on the association of dopaminergic gene polymorphisms with PD from the Indian sub-continent.