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Mayo Clinic Researchers Find Allergies, Parkinson's Link

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 August 2006, 15:00 CDT

Researchers from Mayo Clinic have discovered that allergic rhinitis is associated with the development of Parkinson's disease later in life.

Previous studies had shown that people who regularly take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, are less likely to develop Parkinson's disease. These results prompted the Mayo Clinic investigators to look further into the links between diseases characterized by inflammation and Parkinson's.

They studied 196 people who developed Parkinson's disease, matched with people of similar age and gender who did not develop Parkinson's. The study was conducted over a 20-year period.

The researchers examined these groups to determine if those who developed Parkinson's disease had more inflammatory diseases. They found that those with allergic rhinitis were 2.9 times more likely to develop Parkinson's.

They did not find a similar association between inflammatory diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, pernicious anemia or vitiligo and Parkinson's disease. The researchers hypothesize that they may not have found significant links between these diseases and Parkinson's disease due to the relatively small number of those in the population who have these diseases, and thus the small number with these diseases in their population sample study. They also did not find the same association with Parkinson's disease in patients with asthma that they discovered in those with allergic rhinitis.

The investigators theorize that a tendency toward inflammation is the key link between the diseases.

"People with allergic rhinitis mount an immune response with their allergies, so they may be more likely to mount an immune response in the brain as well, which would produce inflammation," said Dr James Bower, Mayo Clinic neurologist and lead study investigator. "The inflammation produced may release certain chemicals in the brain and inadvertently kill brain cells, as we see in Parkinson's."

Dr Bower explains that this study does not prove that allergies cause Parkinson's disease; instead, it points to an association between the two diseases.

He advises that allergy patients can do little to reduce the potential risk for Parkinson's. Dr Bower and colleagues hope, however, that the clues in this study may give scientists a strong hint about inflammation's role in Parkinson's.

"This is exciting, because we may be able to develop medications to block the inflammation," he said.

Source: Datamonitor

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