title: Nocardia species as an etiologic agent in Parkinson's disease: serological testing in a case-control study.
abstract: To test the hypothesis that Nocardia spp. may be an etiologic factor in Parkinson's disease (PD), we used a serodiagnostic panel to determine if PD patients had antibodies specific for Nocardia spp. To validate the serological test panel, sera from healthy volunteers and from patients with culture-proven nocardiosis (n = 307) were compared in part 1 of the study. The sensitivity of the panel was 88% for detection of culture-proven nocardial infections, and specificity was 85% (excluding cross-reactive leprosy cases). In part 2, no difference in seropositivity was found when PD patients were compared with their age- and gender-matched controls (n = 140). We found a high exposure rate of humans to nocardial antigens, especially among men and older individuals. Our results offer no support to the hypothesis that Nocardia spp. are causative in PD; however, it is possible that serological testing may not be optimal for detection of nocardial central nervous system infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City 66160-7314, USA.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hubble
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kjelstrom
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Beaman
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009615:Nocardia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009617:Nocardia Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial