The association between infectious burden and Parkinson's disease: A case-control study. - PubMed - NCBI

The
etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear. The aim of this
study was to examine the association between common pathogenic
infections and PD.

METHODS:

Antibody titers to common infectious pathogens including cytomegalovirus (CMV),
Epstein Barr virus (EBV)，herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1), Borrelia
burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi), Chlamydophila pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae)
and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) were measured by ELISA in serum of
131 PD patients and 141 normal controls. Infectious burden (IB) was
defined as a composite serologic measure of exposure to these common
pathogens.

RESULTS:

Seropositivities toward zero-two, three-four and five-six of these pathogens were found
in 11%, 74% and 15% of normal controls while in 4%, 61% and 35% of PD
patients, respectively. IB, bacterial burden and viral burden were
independently associated with PD. Schwab and England (S&E) scores
were negatively correlated with IB in patients with PD. Serum
α-synuclein protein levels and inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β
and interleukin-6) in individuals with higher IB were also significantly
higher.

CONCLUSIONS:

IB consisting of CMV, EBV, HSV-1, B. burgdorferi, C. pneumoniae and
H. pylori is associated with PD. This study supports the role of
infection in the etiology of PD.