Introduction: Treatment strategies in Parkinson’s disease (PD) can improve a patient’s quality of life but cannot stop the progression of PD. We are looking for different alternatives that modify the natural course of the disease and recent research has demonstrated the neuroprotective properties of erythropoietin. In Cuba, the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) is a cutting edge scientific center where the recombinant form (EPOrh) and recombinant human erythropoietin with low sialic acid (NeuroEPO) are produced. We performed two clinical trials to evaluate the safety and tolerability of these two drugs in PD patients. In this paper we want to show the positive results of the additional cognitive tests employed, as part of the comprehensive assessment. Materials and method: Two studies were conducted in PD patients from the outpatient clinic of CIREN, including n = 10 and n = 26 patients between 60 and 66 years of age, in stages 1 to 2 of the Hoehn and Yahr Scale. The first study employed recombinant human (rhEPO) and the second an intranasal formulation of neuroEPO. All patients were evaluated with a battery of neuropsychological scales composed to evaluate global cognitive functioning, executive function, and memory. Results: The general results in both studies showed a positive response to the cognitive functions in PD patients, who were undergoing pharmacological treatment with respect to the evaluation (p < 0.05) before the intervention. Conclusions: Erythropoietin has a discrete positive effect on the cognitive functions of patients with Parkinson’s disease, which could be interpreted as an effect of the neuroprotective properties of this molecules. To confirm the results another clinical trial phase III with neuroEPO is in progress, also designed to discard any influence of a placebo effect on cognition.

Background Because of the prevalence and impact of sleep disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD), valid instruments for their evaluation and monitoring are necessary. However, some nocturnal sleep disorders may go unnoticed by patients themselves. Objectives To validate a pan‐Spanish version of the Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale Version 2 (PDSS‐2) and to test the relationships between the PDSS‐2 and a PDSS‐2 roommate version. Methods PD patients (n = 399) from seven Spanish‐speaking countries were included. In addition to the tested PDSS‐2 scales, valid measures for sleep disorders and both motor and nonmotor manifestations were applied. Acceptability, dimensionality, reliability, precision, and construct validity were explored, as well as discrepancies and agreement between the PDSS‐2 and the roommate version. Results PDSS‐2 showed negligible floor and ceiling effects. Four factors (57% of the variance) were identified. Reliability parameters were satisfactory: alpha = 0.84; item homogeneity coefficient = 0.27; corrected item total correlation = 0.28 to 0.61; and test‐retest reliability (average kappa = 0.70; intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.83). The standard error of measurement was 5.84, and correlations with other scales assessing nocturnal sleep were high (rS = 0.62–0.56). In comparison to the patient‐based total score, the by proxy total score showed no significant difference, high correlation (rS = 0.70), and acceptable agreement (ICC = 0.69), but there were discrepancies in two or more points in 18% of item scores. Conclusions The Spanish version of the PDSS‐2 has shown satisfactory clinimetric attributes. Acceptability and precision data are presented for the first time. The PDSS‐2 roommate version could be useful to complement the patient‐based evaluation, but additional studies are needed.

This observation suggests that ablative surgery might be applied to treat a movement disorder induced by the lesion of the same nucleus, which in addition lead to interesting pathophysiological conjectures.

Background The Movement Disorder Society‐sponsored Non‐motor Rating Scale (MDS‐NMS) assess the severity and disability caused by non‐motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective This article encapsulates the formal process for completing this program and the data on the first officially approved non‐English version of the MDS‐NMS (Spanish). Methods The MDS‐NMS translation program involves four steps: translation and back‐translation; cognitive pre‐testing to ensure that raters and patients understand the scale and are comfortable with its content; field testing of the finalized version; analysis of the factor structure of the tested version against the original English language version for the nine domains that could be analyzed in a confirmatory factor analysis. To be designated an “Official MDS translation,” the confirmatory factor analysis Comparative Fit Index had to be ≥0.90. Results The Spanish MDS‐NMS was tested in 364 native‐Spanish‐speaking patients with PD from seven countries. For all subjects with fully computable data with all domains of the MDS‐NMS (n = 349), the Comparative Fit Index was ≥0.90 for the nine eligible domains. Missing data were negligible and moderate floor effect (42.90%) was found for the Non‐Motor Fluctuations subscale. Item homogeneity coefficient was adequate, and the correlation of the MDS‐NMS domains with other measures for related constructs was acceptable (rs ≥ 0.50). Conclusions The Spanish version of the MDS‐NMS followed the IPMDS Translation Program protocol, reached the criterion to be designated as an Official Translation, and is now available on the MDS website.

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