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Assessment of plasma lactoferrin in Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Grau Armin J.,
Willig Vera,
Fogel Wolfgang,
Werle Egon
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/1531-8257(200101)16:1<131::aid-mds1008>3.0.co;2-o
Subject(s) - lactoferrin , parkinson's disease , medicine , pathogenesis , endocrinology , substantia nigra , cerebrospinal fluid , transferrin , ferritin , degenerative disease , levodopa , central nervous system disease , disease , chemistry , biochemistry
Iron may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent studies have shown that the iron‐transporting glycoprotein lactoferrin (LF) and its receptor are increased in the substantia nigra (SN) in PD. We investigated whether plasma levels of LF are altered in dopa‐responsive PD. Plasma LF was not different between patients with PD (n = 23; 306 ± 116 [mean ± standard deviation] ng/ml) and age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects (n = 15; 359 ± 126 ng/ml ). However, LF was inversely correlated with PD severity (r = −0.68, P = 0.002), an association that remained significant after adjustment for treatment with levodopa, monoaminooxidase inhibitors, and dopa agonists (r = −0.53, P = 0.017). Plasma transferrin and ferritin levels were not different between groups and neither correlated with disease severity nor with LF levels. Together with the result of increased nigral lactoferrin, this finding is compatible with the hypothesis of an imbalance between LF levels in blood and SN in progressing PD. Larger and particularly longitudinal studies and measurements of LF in cerebrospinal fluid are warranted to further examine the role of LF in PD. Mov. Disord. 16:131–134, 2001. © 2001 Movement Disorder Society.