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Mendelian Randomisation Finds No Causal Association between Urate and Parkinson's Disease Progression
Author(s) -
Coneys Rachel,
Storm Catherine S.,
Kia Demis A.,
Almramhi Mona,
Wood Nicholas W.
Publication year - 2021
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/mds.28662
Subject(s) - mendelian randomization , genome wide association study , parkinson's disease , observational study , genetic association , medicine , causality (physics) , disease , oncology , psychology , bioinformatics , genetics , biology , genetic variants , genotype , single nucleotide polymorphism , gene , physics , quantum mechanics
Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative movement disorder. Observational studies suggest higher levels of plasma urate may protect against Parkinson's risk and progression; however, causality cannot be established. Objectives This study set out to determine whether there is a true causal association between urate levels and PD age at onset (AAO) and progression severity using recently released PD AAO and progression genome‐wide association study (GWAS) data. Methods A large two‐sample Mendelian randomization design was employed, using genetic variants underlying urate levels and the latest GWAS data for PD outcomes. Results This study found no causal association between urate levels and Parkinson's risk, AAO, or progression severity. Conclusions Our results predict increasing urate levels as a therapeutic strategy is unlikely to benefit PD patients. © 2021 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society