To investigate whether Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection affects the clinical response to levodopa and whether its eradication could improve motor fluctuation in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Using the [(13)C] urea breath test, we monitored HP infection in 65 patients with PD and motor fluctuations of the "wearing-off" or delayed "on" types, with or without dyskinesia. We compared the clinical features and response to L-dopa between HP noninfected (n = 30) and HP infected patients (n = 35) by reviewing home diaries kept for 72 hours. Among HP infected patients, we compared the differences in L-dopa "onset" time, "on-time" duration, and scores on the motor examination section of the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS-III) during the medication "on" phase before and after HP eradication. There were no differences in the age, disease duration, Hoehn and Yahr stage, UPDRS-III score, L-dopa daily dose, and frequency of dyskinesia between HP noninfected and HP infected groups. However, L-dopa "onset" time was longer and "on-time" duration was shorter in HP infected patients than in HP noninfected patients (78.4 +/- 28.2 vs. 56.7 +/- 25.1 and 210.0 +/- 75.7 vs. 257.7 +/- 68.9 min, respectively, P < 0.05). HP eradication improved the delay L-dopa "onset" time and short "on-time" duration (to 58.1 +/- 25.6 and to 234.4 +/- 66.5 min, respectively, P < 0.05). These data demonstrated that HP infection could interfere with the absorption of L-dopa and provoke motor fluctuations. HP eradication can improve the motor fluctuations of HP infected patients with PD.

This study is the first nationwide survey for the prevalence of MS in Korea utilizing a national database in complementary way. We found an increase in the prevalence of MS that is consistent with reports from neighboring Asian countries.

Background and PurposeBlepharospasm (BSP) and apraxia of eyelid opening (AEO) have been reported as dystonia related with parkinsonism. However, systematic analysis of clinical characteristics of BSP and AEO in parkinsonism has been seldom reported. To investigate the clinical characteristics of BSP and AEO in parkinsonism and to find out the clinical significance to differentiate parkinsonism.MethodsWe enrolled 35 patients who had BSP with or without AEO out of 1113 patients with parkinsonism (913 IPD, idiopathic Parkinson's disease; 190 MSA, multiple system atrophy, 134 MSA-p, 56 MSA-c and 10 PSP, progressive supranuclear palsy). We subdivided MSA into MSA-p (predominantly parkinsonism) and MSA-c (predominantly cerebellar) according to the diagnostic criteria proposed by Quinn. We analyzed the clinical features of BSP and parkinsonism including onset age, onset interval to BSP, characteristics of BSP, presence of AEO, coexisted dystonias on the other body parts, severity of parkinsonism and relationship with levodopa treatment.ResultsBSP with or without AEO were more frequently observed in atypical parkinsonism (PSP, 70%; MSA-p, 11.2%; MSA-c, 8.9%) than in IPD (0.9%). Reflex BSP was observed only in atypical parkinsonism (4 MSA-p, 1 MSA-c and 2 PSP). BSP preceding parkinsonism (Pre-BSP) was observed mainly in atypical parkinsonism (2 MSA-p, 1 MSA-c, 1 PSP and 1 IPD). The presence of AEO was more frequent in atypical parkinsonism than in IPD, but isolated AEO was not detected. BSP related to levodopa ('off' symptom or 'peak-dose' effect) were observed only in IPD.ConclusionsReflex BSP, Pre-BSP and the presence of AEO may be a unique feature of atypical parkinsonism. BSP related to levodopa might be representative of IPD. No differences were found in the clinical features of BSP between MSA-p and MSA-c.

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