Association of metals with the risk and clinical characteristics of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Introduction: While metals have been implicated in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD), the clinical evidence is scarce. Further, the contribution of metals for the risk or clinical presentation of PD remains to be explored. Methods: To investigate the associations between the level of metals in blood serum and PD risk or clinical presentation, including sex-related differences, we studied 325 PD patients and age- and sex-matched 304 controls. We collected clinical data of the PD patients, including age at onset, PD duration, levodopa-equivalent dose (LED), Hoehn and Yahr stage (H-Y stage), presence of motor fluctuation, levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID), freezing of gait, halluc..