title: Parkinson's Disease and Homocysteine: A Community-Based Study in a Folate and Vitamin B12 Deficient Population.
abstract: Background. Homocysteine (Hcy) levels were higher in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). This could be partially explained by levodopa treatment. Whether untreated PD patients have higher Hcy levels is contradictory. Methods. A community-based study was conducted using a two-stage approach for subjects ≥ 55 years to find PD patients in 3 towns of Lüliang City. Blood samples were collected. Serum Hcy, folate, and vitamin B12 concentrations were measured. For each untreated PD patient, 5 controls were selected matched with age and sex to evaluate the relationship between Hcy levels and PD. Results. Of 6338 eligible residents, 72.7% participated in the study. 31 PD cases were identified. The crude prevalence of PD for people ≥ 55 years was 0.67%. Blood samples were collected from 1845 subjects, including 17 untreated PD patients. There was no difference for concentrations of serum Hcy, folate, and vitamin B12 between cases and controls (P > 0.05). In univariate and multivariate analysis, there was significant inverse relation between PD and current smoking (P < 0.05). No other factor was significant statistically. Conclusions. The prevalence of PD was comparable to earlier studies in China. Hyperhomocysteinemia was not a risk factor of PD, as well as folate and vitamin B12 deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang Nan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan 030000, China.
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4434-5599
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang Nan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan 030000, China.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tiandong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang Nan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan 030000, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang Nan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan 030000, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huaxing
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang Nan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan 030000, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guowen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang Nan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan 030000, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yalan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang Nan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan 030000, China.
authors.forename: Niu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5434-455X
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xiaoyuan