title: How does smoking affect olfaction in Parkinson's disease?
abstract: Smoke-induced upper airway damage and Parkinson's disease (PD) can be considered independent risk factors for smell impairment. Interestingly, cigarette smoking has been strongly associated with reduced risk of PD and, therefore, has been suggested to have neuroprotective effects. Our pilot study aimed to evaluate the relationship between smoking and olfaction in PD patients and matched controls. Sixty-eight PD patients and 61 healthy controls were categorized in relation to PD diagnosis and current smoking status, and evaluated by means of the Italian version of the University of Pennsylvania 40-item Smell Identification Test (UPSIT-40). ANOVA analysis with post-hoc Bonferroni correction showed that non-smoker controls presented a higher UPSIT-40 total score than smoker controls (p<0.001), non-smoker PD patients (p<0.001) and smoker PD patients (p<0.001). In this view, smoking seems to affect olfaction in controls but not in PD patients, and no significant differences were found when comparing smoker controls, smoker PD patients and non-smoker PD patients. Several epidemiological studies showed a negative effect of smoking on olfaction in the general population. Otherwise the sense of smell is similar in smoker and non-smoker PD patients. These results suggest that PD and smoking are not independent risk factors for impairment of sense of smell, but they might variably interact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Science and Odontostomatology, Federico II University, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moccia
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Science and Odontostomatology, Federico II University, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picillo
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erro
authors.affiliation: University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy; IDC Hermitage-Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.affiliation: IDC Hermitage-Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amboni
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Public Health, Federico II University, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palladino
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), University of Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Dante Luigi
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Cioffi
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), University of Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barone
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: mpellecchia@unisa.it.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pellecchia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking
keywords: Neuroprotection; Nicotine; Olfaction; Parkinson's disease; Smell; Smoking