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Aims Our main objective was to determine the neuropathological correlates of dementia in patients with Lewy body disease (LBD). Furthermore, we used data derived from clinical, neuropathological and genetic studies to investigate boundary issues between Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease with (PDD) and without (PDND) dementia. Methods One hundred and twenty-one cases with a neuropathological diagnosis of LBD and clinical information on dementia status were included in the analysis (55 PDD, 17 DLB and 49 PDND). We carried out topographical and semi-quantitative assessment of Lewy bodies (LB), Aβ plaques and tau-positive neuropil threads (NT). The APOE genotype and MAPT haplotype status were also determined. Results The cortical LB (CLB) burden was the only independent predictor of dementia (OR: 4.12, P < 0.001). The total cortical Aβ plaque burden was an independent predictor of a shorter latency to dementia from onset of motor signs ( P = 0.001). DLB cases had a higher LB burden in the parietal and temporal cortex, compared to PDD. Carrying at least one APOE ϵ4 allele was associated with a higher cortical LB burden ( P = 0.02), particularly in the neocortical frontal, parietal and temporal regions. Conclusions High CLB burden is a key neuropathological substrate of dementia in LBD. Elevated cortical LB pathology and Aβ plaque deposition are both correlated with a faster progression to dementia. The higher CLB load in the temporal and parietal regions, which seems to be a distinguishing feature of DLB, may account for the shorter latency to dementia and could be mediated by the APOE ϵ4 allele. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the prevalence, natural history, and risk factors for impulse control behaviors (ICBs) among people with Parkinson disease (PD), those with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), and controls., Methods: Participants with early PD (within 3.5 years of diagnosis), those with RBD, and controls were clinically phenotyped and screened for ICBs longitudinally (with the Questionnaire for Impulsivity in Parkinson's Disease). ICB-positive individuals were invited for a semistructured interview, repeated 1 year later. The severity of the ICB was assessed with the Parkinson's Impulse Control Scale. Multiple imputation and regression models were used to estimate ICB prevalence and associations., Results: Data from 921 cases of PD at baseline, 768 cases at 18 months, and 531 cases at 36 months were included, with 21% to 25% screening positive for ICBs at each visit. Interviews of ICB screen-positive individuals revealed that 10% met formal criteria for impulse control disorders (ICD), while 33% had subsyndromal ICD (ICB symptoms without reaching the formal diagnostic criteria for ICD). When these data were combined through the use of multiple imputation, the prevalence of PD-ICB was estimated at 19.1% (95% confidence interval 10.1-28.2). On follow-up, 24% of cases of subsyndromal ICD had developed full symptoms of an ICD. PD-ICD was associated with dopamine agonist use, motor complications, and apathy but not PD-RBD. ICD prevalence in the RBD group (1%) was similar to that in controls (0.7%)., Conclusions: ICBs occur in 19.1% of patients with early PD, many persisting or worsening over time. RBD is not associated with increased ICD risk. Psychosocial drivers, including mood and support networks, affect severity., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.)

Objective: We recently demonstrated that 998 features derived from a simple 7-minute smartphone test could distinguish between controls, people with Parkinson's and people with idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement sleep behavior disorder, with mean sensitivity/specificity values of 84.6-91.9%. Here, we investigate whether the same smartphone features can be used to predict future clinically relevant outcomes in early Parkinson's., Methods: A total of 237 participants with Parkinson's (mean (SD) disease duration 3.5 (2.2) years) in the Oxford Discovery cohort performed smartphone tests in clinic and at home. Each test assessed voice, balance, gait, reaction time, dexterity, rest, and postural tremor. In addition, standard motor, cognitive and functional assessments and questionnaires were administered in clinic. Machine learning algorithms were trained to predict the onset of clinical outcomes provided at the next 18-month follow-up visit using baseline smartphone recordings alone. The accuracy of model predictions was assessed using 10-fold and subject-wise cross validation schemes., Results: Baseline smartphone tests predicted the new onset of falls, freezing, postural instability, cognitive impairment, and functional impairment at 18 months. For all outcome predictions AUC values were greater than 0.90 for 10-fold cross validation using all smartphone features. Using only the 30 most salient features, AUC values greater than 0.75 were obtained., Interpretation: We demonstrate the ability to predict key future clinical outcomes using a simple smartphone test. This work has the potential to introduce individualized predictions to routine care, helping to target interventions to those most likely to benefit, with the aim of improving their outcome., (© 2019 The Authors. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc on behalf of American Neurological Association.)

Objective: We sought to identify motor features that would allow the delineation of individuals with sleep study-confirmed idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) from controls and Parkinson disease (PD) using a customized smartphone application., Methods: A total of 334 PD, 104 iRBD, and 84 control participants performed 7 tasks to evaluate voice, balance, gait, finger tapping, reaction time, rest tremor, and postural tremor. Smartphone recordings were collected both in clinic and at home under noncontrolled conditions over several days. All participants underwent detailed parallel in-clinic assessments. Using only the smartphone sensor recordings, we sought to (1) discriminate whether the participant had iRBD or PD and (2) identify which of the above 7 motor tasks were most salient in distinguishing groups., Results: Statistically significant differences based on these 7 tasks were observed between the 3 groups. For the 3 pairwise discriminatory comparisons, (1) controls vs iRBD, (2) controls vs PD, and (3) iRBD vs PD, the mean sensitivity and specificity values ranged from 84.6% to 91.9%. Postural tremor, rest tremor, and voice were the most discriminatory tasks overall, whereas the reaction time was least discriminatory., Conclusions: Prodromal forms of PD include the sleep disorder iRBD, where subtle motor impairment can be detected using clinician-based rating scales (e.g., Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale), which may lack the sensitivity to detect and track granular change. Consumer grade smartphones can be used to accurately separate not only iRBD from controls but also iRBD from PD participants, providing a growing consensus for the utility of digital biomarkers in early and prodromal PD., (Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.)

Background: Although primarily a neurodegenerative process, there is increasing awareness of peripheral disease mechanisms in Parkinson's disease. To investigate disease processes in accessible patient cells, we studied peripheral blood mononuclear cells in recently diagnosed PD patients and rapid eye movement-sleep behavior disorder patients who have a greatly increased risk of developing PD. We hypothesized that peripheral blood mononuclear cells may recapitulate cellular pathology found in the PD brain and investigated these cells for mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress., Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and studied from PD patients, rapid eye movement-sleep behavior disorder patients and age- and sex-matched control individuals from the well-characterized Oxford Discovery cohort. All participants underwent thorough clinical assessment., Results: Initial characterization showed that PD patients had elevated levels of CD14 + monocytes and monocytes expressing C-C motif chemokine receptor 2. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress were increased in PD patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells, with elevated levels of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species specifically in patient monocytes. This was combined with reduced levels of the antioxidant superoxide dismutase in blood cells from PD patients and, importantly, also in rapid eye movement-sleep behavior disorder patients. This mitochondrial dysfunction was associated with a concomitant increase in glycolysis in both PD and rapid eye movement-sleep behavior disorder patient blood cells independent of glucose uptake or monocyte activation., Conclusions: This work demonstrates functional bioenergetic deficits in PD and rapid eye movement-sleep behavior disorder patient blood cells during the early stages of human disease. © 2018 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society., (© 2018 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Objectives: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is the most specific marker of prodromal alpha-synucleinopathies. We sought to delineate the baseline clinical characteristics of RBD and evaluate risk stratification models., Methods: Clinical assessments were performed in 171 RBD, 296 control, and 119 untreated Parkinson's (PD) participants. Putative risk measures were assessed as predictors of prodromal neurodegeneration, and Movement Disorders Society (MDS) criteria for prodromal PD were applied. Participants were screened for common leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2)/glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) gene mutations., Results: Compared to controls, participants with RBD had higher rates of solvent exposure, head injury, smoking, obesity, and antidepressant use. GBA mutations were more common in RBD, but no LRRK2 mutations were found. RBD participants performed significantly worse than controls on Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)-III, timed "get-up-and-go", Flamingo test, Sniffin Sticks, and cognitive tests and had worse measures of constipation, quality of life (QOL), and orthostatic hypotension. For all these measures except UPDRS-III, RBD and PD participants were equally impaired. Depression, anxiety, and apathy were worse in RBD compared to PD participants. Stratification of people with RBD according to antidepressant use, obesity, and age altered the odds ratio (OR) of hyposmia compared to controls from 3.4 to 45.5. 74% (95% confidence interval [CI] 66%, 80%) of RBD participants met the MDS criteria for probable prodromal Parkinson's compared to 0.3% (95% CI 0.009%, 2%) of controls., Conclusions: RBD are impaired across a range of clinical measures consistent with prodromal PD and suggestive of a more severe nonmotor subtype. Clinical risk stratification has the potential to select higher risk patients for neuroprotective interventions., (© Sleep Research Society 2017. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Sleep Research Society].)

Introduction: Changes in personality have been described in Parkinson's disease (PD), with suggestion that those with established disease tend to be risk averse with a disinclination for addictive behaviour. However, little is known about the earliest and prodromal stages. Personality and its relationship with addictive behaviours can help answer important questions about the mechanisms underlying PD and addiction., Methods: 941 population-ascertained PD subjects within 3.5 years of diagnosis, 128 patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) and 292 control subjects were fully characterised for motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms and across the following 5 personality domains: 1) neuroticism 2) extraversion 3) conscientiousness 4) agreeableness 5) openness using the Big Five Inventory., Results: Patients with early PD were more neurotic (p < 0.001), less extraverted (p < 0.001) and less open than controls (p < 0.001). RBD subjects showed the same pattern of being more neurotic (p < 0.001), less extraverted (p = 0.03) and less open (p < 0.001). PD patients had smoked less (p = 0.02) and drunk less alcohol (p = 0.03) than controls, but caffeine beverage consumption was similar. Being more extraverted (p < 0.001), more open (p < 0.001), and less neurotic (p < 0.001) predicted higher alcohol use, while being more extravert (p = 0.007) and less agreeable (p < 0.001) was associated with smoking more., Conclusions: A similar pattern of personality changes is seen in PD and RBD compared to a control population. Personality characteristics were associated with addictive behaviours, suggestive of a common link, but the lower rates of addictive behaviours before and after the onset of motor symptoms in PD persisted after accounting for personality., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

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 been measured using different metrics. We present conversion methods between the: UPSIT, Sniffin' 16, and Brief-SIT (B-SIT); and Sniffin' 12 and Sniffin' 16 odour identification tests., Methods: We used two incident cohorts of patients with PD who were tested with either the Sniffin' 16 (n = 1131) or UPSIT (n = 980) and a validation dataset of 128 individuals who took both tests. We used the equipercentile and Item Response Theory (IRT) methods to equate the olfaction scales., Results: The equipercentile conversion suggested some bias between UPSIT and Sniffin' 16 tests across the two groups. The IRT method shows very good characteristics between the true and converted Sniffin' 16 (delta mean = 0.14, median = 0) based on UPSIT. The equipercentile conversion between the Sniffin' 12 and 16 item worked well (delta mean = 0.01, median = 0). The UPSIT to B-SIT conversion showed evidence of bias but amongst PD cases worked well (mean delta = -0.08, median = 0)., Conclusion: We have demonstrated that one can convert UPSIT to B-SIT or Sniffin' 16, and Sniffin' 12 to 16 scores in a valid way. This can facilitate direct comparison between tests aiding future collaborative analyses and evidence synthesis., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

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 severity and phenotype., Methods: Cardiovascular risk was quantified using the QRISK2 calculator (high ≥20%, medium ≥10 and <20%, low risk <10%). Motor severity and phenotype were assessed using the Movement Disorder Society Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) and cognition by the Montreal cognitive assessment., Results: In 2909 individuals with recent-onset PD, the mean age was 67.5 years (SD 9.3), 63.5% were men and the mean disease duration was 1.3 years (SD 0.9). 33.8% of cases had high vascular risk, 28.7% medium risk, and 22.3% low risk, while 15.2% of cases had established CVD. Increasing vascular risk and CVD were associated with older age (p<0.001), worse motor score (p<0.001), more cognitive impairment (p<0.001) and worse motor phenotype (p=0.021). Statins were prescribed in 37.2% with high vascular risk, 15.1% with medium vascular risk and 6.5% with low vascular risk, which compared with statin usage in 75.3% of those with CVD., Conclusions: Over 60% of recent-onset PD patients have high or medium cardiovascular risk (meriting statin usage), which is associated with a worse motor and cognitive phenotype. Statins are underused in these patients, compared with those with vascular disease, which is a missed opportunity for preventive treatment., Trial Registration Number: GN11NE062, NCT02881099., Competing Interests: NPB has received payment for advisory board attendance from UCB, Teva Lundbeck, Britannia, GSK, Boehringer and honoraria from UCB Pharma, GE Healthcare, Lily Pharma, Medtronic. He has received research grant support from GE Healthcare, Wellcome Trust, MRC and Parkinson's UK and royalties from Wiley. RAB has received grants from Parkinson's UK, NIHR, Cure Parkinson's Trust, Evelyn Trust, Rosetrees Trust, MRC and EU along with payment for advisory board attendance from Oxford Biomedica and LCT, and honoraria from Wiley and Springer. DJB has received grants from NIHR, Wellcome Trust, GlaxoSmithKline, Parkinson's UK and Michael J Fox Foundation. He has acted as consultant for GSK. TF has received payment for advisory board meetings for Abbvie and Oxford Biomedica, and honoraria for presentations at meetings sponsored by Medtronic, St Jude Medical, Britannia and Teva pharmaceuticals. HRM has received grants from Medical Research Council UK, Wellcome Trust, Parkinson's UK, Ipsen Fund, Motor Neurone Disease Association, Welsh Assembly Government, PSP Association, CBD Solutions and Drake Foundation, and payment for advisory board attendance and lectures from Acorda, Teva, AbbVie, Medtronic, Boehringer Ingelheim, UCB and GSK. MTMH has received grants from Parkinson's UK, Michael J Fox Foundation, GE Healthcare, NIHR and Cure Parkinson's Trust. DGG has received grants from Parkinson's UK, Michael's Movers, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, payment for advisory board attendance from AbbVie and honoraria from UCB Pharma, GE Healthcare and Acorda., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

In recent years, several studies have investigated the potential of immunohistochemical detection of α-synuclein in the gastrointestinal tract to diagnose Parkinson's disease (PD). Although methodological heterogeneity has hindered comparability between studies, it has become increasingly apparent that the high sensitivity and specificity reported in preliminary studies has not been sustained in subsequent large-scale studies. What constitutes pathological α-synuclein in the alimentary canal that could distinguish between PD patients and controls and how this can be reliably detected represent key outstanding questions in the field. In this review, we will comment on and compare the variable technical aspects from previous studies, and by highlighting some advantages and shortcomings we hope to delineate a standardized approach to facilitate the consensus criteria urgently needed in the field. Furthermore, we will describe alternative detection techniques to conventional immunohistochemistry that have recently emerged and may facilitate ease of interpretation and reliability of gastrointestinal α-synuclein detection. Such techniques have the potential to detect the presence of pathological α-synuclein and include the paraffin-embedded tissue blot, the proximity ligation assay, the protein misfolding cyclic amplification technique, and the real-time quaking-induced conversion assay. Finally, we will review 2 nonsynonymous theories that have driven enteric α-synuclein research, namely, (1) that α-synuclein propagates in a prion-like fashion from the peripheral nervous system to the brain via vagal connections and (2) that gastrointestinal α-synuclein deposition may be used as a clinically useful biomarker in PD., (© 2016 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) are an important prodromal feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, their frequency, treatment rates, and impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the early motor phase is unclear. Rates of NMS in enriched at-risk populations, such as first-degree PD relatives, have not been delineated. We assessed NMS in an early cohort of PD, first-degree PD relatives and control subjects to address these questions. In total, 769 population-ascertained PD subjects within 3.5 years of diagnosis, 98 first-degree PD relatives, and 287 control subjects were assessed at baseline across the following NMS domains: (1) neuropsychiatric; (2) gastrointestinal; (3) sleep; (4) sensory; (5) autonomic; and (6) sexual. NMS were much more common in PD, compared to control subjects. More than half of the PD cases had hyposmia, pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, or urinary dysfunction. NMS were more frequent in those with the postural instability gait difficulty phenotype, compared to the tremor dominant (mean total number of NMS 7.8 vs. 6.2; P < 0.001). PD cases had worse HRQoL scores than controls (odds ratio: 4.1; P < 0.001), with depression, anxiety, and pain being stronger drivers than motor scores. NMS were rarely treated in routine clinical practice. First-degree PD relatives did not significantly differ in NMS, compared to controls, in this baseline study. NMS are common in early PD and more common in those with postural instability gait difficulty phenotype or on treatment. Despite their major impact on quality of life, NMS are usually under-recognized and untreated., (© 2015 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.)

Background: A very limited number of studies report data on the clinical features of Parkinson's disease (PD) 20 years after onset and beyond., Objective: To characterise PD 20 years after onset, investigating the impact of age at onset and disease duration on the clinical picture and the predictors of outcomes in patients reaching the 20-year time point., Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study and a longitudinal study. All case visits of patients with a disease duration ≥20 years (N=401) were stratified by disease duration (20-22, 23-25, ≥26 years) and by age at onset (cut-off, 50 years). Patients with a disease duration of 20-22 years (N=320) were prospectively followed up for a median of 45 months (IQR 23-89) for the new occurrence of fracture, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, institutionalisation, confinement to a wheelchair or bed and death., Results: Older age at onset and longer disease duration were independently associated with a higher prevalence of major motor and non-motor milestones of disease disability (no interaction observed). In the longitudinal study, the most frequent outcomes were death (N=92), confinement to a wheelchair or bed (N=67) and fracture (N=52). Mortality was associated with the gender: male, older age, dysphagia, orthostatic hypotension, postural instability, fractures and institutionalisation. Fracture was associated with postural instability. Predictors of permanent confinement to a wheelchair or bed were older age, postural instability and institutionalisation. Comorbid dementia at the 20-year examination did not predict any of the outcomes., Conclusions: Age at onset and disease duration are independent determinants of the clinical features of PD beyond 20 years. Non-motor symptoms depend more on age at onset rather than the disease duration itself. Non-levodopa-responsive axial symptoms are the main predictors of all relevant outcomes., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Background/aims: Large epidemiological prospective studies represent an important opportunity for investigating risk factors for rare diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Here we describe the procedures we used for ascertaining PD cases in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study., Methods: The following three-phase procedure was used: (1) elaboration of a NeuroEPIC4PD template for clinical data collection, (2) identification of all potential PD cases via record linkage and (3) validation of the diagnosis through clinical record revision, in a population of 220,494 subjects recruited in 7 European countries. All cases were labelled with the NeuroEPIC4PD diagnoses of 'definite', 'very likely', 'probable', or 'possible' PD., Results: A total of 881 PD cases were identified, with over 2,741,780 person-years of follow-up (199 definite, 275 very likely, 146 probable, and 261 possible). Of these, 734 were incident cases. The mean age at diagnosis was 67.9 years (SD 9.2) and 458 patients (52.0%) were men. Bradykinesia was the most frequent presenting motor sign (76.5%). Tremor-dominant and akinetic rigid forms of PD were the most common types of PD. A total of 289 patients (32.8%) were dead at the time of the last follow-up., Conclusions: This exercise proved that it is feasible to ascertain PD in large population-based cohort studies and offers a potential framework to be replicated in similar studies., (© 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Age is considered an important risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). However, although life-expectancy has increased considerably, incidence rates of PD appeared to be stable over the last two decades. Accordingly, an increase in mean age at onset over time could be expected. We investigated the changes in age at onset in PD over the last two decades., Methods: All consecutive PD patients assessed over a 18-year period (1995-2013) in a single tertiary outpatient clinic were included in the present retrospective cohort study., Results: After adjusting for several confounders (gender, positive family history for PD, education, smoking at onset and past exposure to environmental/occupational pollutants), 5-year cohorts of year of disease onset were associated with increasing age at onset in both prevalent (N = 6996) and incident (N = 4172) cases (for trend, P < 0.001). From 1995-2000 to 2010-2013 there was an increase in predicted age of 4.1 years (95% CI, 3.0-5.2) and 3.9 years (95% CI, 2.7-5.1) in prevalent and incident cases, respectively. However, the change in predicted age at PD onset, across cohorts of year at onset, showed a steeper increase than the corresponding sex and cohort-matched mean age from the official Italian statistics., Conclusions: Over the last two decades, age at onset of PD appeared to shift progressively towards more advanced age. However, sequential, high-quality population-based incidence studies are required. To establish whether there is a trend towards increase in age at onset over and above general population ageing and to assess whether the increase is associated with improved medical and socio-economic conditions., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS) refers to a compulsive pattern of dopaminergic drug misuse complicating Parkinson's disease (PD). To date, few data are available on DDS risk factors, cognitive profile and long-term outcome., Methods: In this retrospective case-control study, consecutive PD outpatients fulfilling criteria for DDS were assessed over a 6-year period (2005-2011). They were compared with 70 PD cases matched for age at onset, gender and disease duration, and with 1281 subjects with motor fluctuations and dyskinesias. DDS patients and matched controls underwent extensive neuropsychological assessment. Strategies for DDS patients management and the outcome at the last follow-up visit were recorded., Results: Thirty-five patients with DDS were identified, reporting history of depression, family history of PD and drug abuse, greater difference between 'Off' versus 'On' motor symptoms compared to age-matched controls. They had younger age at onset (but not any gender difference) compared to general PD population. Cognitive profile of DDS did not show major abnormalities, including executive functions. DDS patients have been followed up for 3.2±2.1 years and remission was recorded in 40% of cases. Negative DDS outcome was significantly associated with poor caregiver supervision. Sustained remission occurred more commonly on clozapine and on duodenal levodopa infusion and subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) than on apomorphine pump treatment., Conclusions: Clinicians should be aware of risk factors predisposing to DDS. Duodenal levodopa infusion and, less consistently, STN-DBS were more commonly associated with DDS remission. Effective caregiving plays a key role in long-term behavioural outcome.

Valproate (VPA) is an anti-epileptic and mood-stabilizing drug with a broad range of action and which mechanism of action still remains in part elusive. Recently the discovery that VPA modifies the epigenome increasing the transcriptional rate of target genes raises the issue of understanding the exact role of this mechanism. In this work we tested the possibility that VPA could modify the epigenome of lymphomonocytes (PBMC) obtained from epileptic patients chronically treated in monotherapy with VPA and phenobarbital. Acetyl-histone H3 expression was assessed by western blotting and global DNA methylation by incorporation of [³H]dCTP. A significant increase in histone acetylation and a correlated decrease of global DNA methylation were shown at VPA therapeutically relevant plasma concentrations. This effect was drug-related, since it was not demonstrated in PBMC obtained from phenobarbital-treated patients. Moreover, a VPA dose-response curve was performed on PBMC obtained from healthy controls, demonstrating an increase of acetyl-histone H3 content. We suggest that the epigenetic properties of VPA expressed on PBMC at these concentrations might be operative in different tissues, with possible implications for the field of neuropsychiatric disorders., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We analysed the parkin gene in a large consecutive series (146) of unrelated early onset Parkinson's disease (onset ?40 years of age) patients. Twelve cases (8.2%) had homozygous or compound heterozygous point mutations and/or exon rearrangements, while a single mutation was found in four subjects (2.7%). We identified eight exon rearrangements and nine point mutations, two of which were novel: c.735delT (p.C212/X224) and c.815C>G (p.C238W). Genotype-phenotype correlation revealed that parkin carriers had features similar to those of non-carrier early onset Parkinson disease patients.

A wide range of substances, including drugs and illicit compounds, increase the risk of epileptic seizures. In this systematic review, the authors address the issue of the epileptogenic potential of marketed drugs, with the aims of providing criteria for the assessment of the cause-effect relationship between drug exposure and the risk of seizures; and to identify the compounds better fulfilling the requirements of an epileptogenic drug. Finding a correlation between drug exposure and occurrence of seizures does not necessarily establish a causal association. In light of the available evidence, even with these limitations, some conclusive remarks can be made on the epileptogenic potential of some active principles. Drugs with high epileptogenic potential include meperidine, sevoflurane, clozapine, phenothiazines and cyclosporine. Drugs with intermediate epileptogenic potential include propofol, maprotiline, tricyclic antidepressants and chlorambucil. Drugs with low epileptogenic potential include fluorquinolones, carbapenems, bupropion and iodinated contrast media. Drugs with minimal or inconclusive epileptogenic potential include interferon alpha.