Volume 32, Issue. 6, December, 2016


Olfactory Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease Patients with the LRRK2 G2385R Variant

 Ming Cao1, Zhu-Qin Gu2,3, Yuan Li1,3, Hui Zhang1,3, Xiao-Juan Dan1, Shan-Shan Cen1, Da-Wei Li1, Piu Chan1,2,3,* 


1Department of Neurobiology, Neurology and Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
2Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute of Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
3Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson’s Disease, Beijing, China

Abstract 

Olfactory dysfunction has been reported in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients carrying the LRRK2 G2019S variant in Caucasians but rarely in those with the LRRK2 G2385R variant. In this study, we performed genotyping for the LRRK2 G2385R variant in PD patients recruited from the Movement Disorder Clinic of Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing and in healthy controls randomly selected from the Beijing Longitudinal Study on Aging cohort. The “five-odor olfactory detection array”, an olfactory threshold test, was used to assess olfactory function. One hundred and eighty-six participants were enrolled, comprising 43 PD patients without (iPD) and 25 with (LRRK2-PD) the LRRK2 G2385R variant, and 118 healthy controls. Our results showed that the threshold of olfactory identification was significantly worse in PD patients than in controls, but not significantly different between the iPD and LRRK2-PD groups. These findings suggested that although olfactory function in LRRK2-PD patients is impaired, it is similar to that in iPD patients.

Keywords

Parkinson’s disease, Olfactory dysfunction, LRRK2 G2385R variant

[SpringerLink]