title: Association between sex, systemic iron variation and probability of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Iron homeostasis appears altered in Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent genetic studies and meta-analyses have produced heterogeneous and inconclusive results. In order to verify the possible role of iron status in PD, we have screened some of the main metal gene variants, evaluated their effects on iron systemic status, and checked for possible interactions with PD.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 92 PD patients and 112 healthy controls, we screened the D544E and R793H variants of the ceruloplasmin gene (CP), the P589S variant of the transferrin gene (TF), and the H63D and C282Y variants of the HFE gene, encoding for homologous proteins, respectively. Furthermore, we analyzed serum concentrations of iron, copper and their related proteins.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The genetic investigation revealed no significant differences in allelic and genotype distributions between patients and controls. Two different multivariable forward stepwise logistic models showed that, when the effect of sex is considered, an increase of the probability of having PD is associated with low iron concentration and Tf-saturation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides new evidence of the involvement of iron metabolism in PD pathogenesis and reveals a biological effect of sex.
authors.affiliation: a Fatebenefratelli Foundation for Health Research and Education, AFaR Division, "San Giovanni Calibita" Fatebenefratelli Hospital , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.affiliation: a Fatebenefratelli Foundation for Health Research and Education, AFaR Division, "San Giovanni Calibita" Fatebenefratelli Hospital , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ventriglia
authors.affiliation: b Unit of Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, IRCCS "San Raffaele Pisana" , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Simonelli
authors.affiliation: c Laboratorio di Neurodegenerazione, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana , Italy.|d Laboratory of Electrophysiology for Translational neuroScience (LET'S), ISTC, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, "S. Giovanni Calibita"
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bucossi
authors.affiliation: e Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation ONLUS , Milan , Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siotto
authors.affiliation: f Ministero della Salute, Direzione Generale della Programmazione Sanitaria, Ufficio VI-Federalismo , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Donno
authors.affiliation: g Neurology, University "Campus Biomedico" , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vernieri
authors.affiliation: a Fatebenefratelli Foundation for Health Research and Education, AFaR Division, "San Giovanni Calibita" Fatebenefratelli Hospital , Rome , Italy.|c Laboratorio di Neurodegenerazione, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana , Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Squitti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002570:Ceruloplasmin / Q000235:genetics*; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D000071020:Hemochromatosis Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014168:Transferrin / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C103673:HFE protein, human; D000071020:Hemochromatosis Protein; D014168:Transferrin; D003300:Copper; D007501:Iron; D002570:Ceruloplasmin
keywords: CP; HFE; PD; Parkinson's disease; ceruloplasmin; iron; transferrin