Depression and anxiety are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and have important consequences on quality of life. These have long been recognized as frequent accompanying syndromes of PD, and several reports suggest that these are the causative process or risk factors that are present many years before the appearance of motor symptoms. The neurochemical changes in PD involving dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin might be related to the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety, but this is still not clear. Several studies showed that anxiety in PD patients occurs earlier than depression, during premotor phase, suggesting that there may be a link between the mechanisms that cause anxiety and PD. Whereas a recent study reported that PD patients with depression and anxiety were associated with different demographic and clinical features.

Background: Oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of neuronal death. Serum levels of urate or lipid were associated with the incidence of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Objective: We compared urate, paraoxonase-1 (PON1), iron, ferritin and lipid in sera of 119 PD patients and 120 healthy controls matched by age, sex and body mass index. We aimed to elucidate whether those serological data are correlated with disease progression. Results: Mean age (SD) of PD patients was 73.4 (8.7) years. Mean Yahr stage (SD) was 3.2 (0.9). Mean disease duration (SD) was 6.9 (5.1) years. Mean dose of L-DOPA (SD) was 355 (157) mg/day. As compared to controls, serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), urate and PON1 activity were significantly reduced, and serum ferritin levels were significantly increased in male and female PD patients. Serum urate levels and PON1 activities were inversely related, and serum ferritin levels were correlated with Yahr stage and PD duration in men and women. Serum levels of TC and LDL-C were inversely related to Yahr stage or PD duration in female patients. Conclusions: Our studies indicated serological profiles of urate, PON1, ferritin, TC and LDL-C in PD patients. These serological changes were linked to PD progression. Metabolism of lipid, oxidant- and antioxidant-related substances may contribute to the pathogenesis and the progression of PD.

The present study indicated higher baPWV in midlife migraineurs without CVD risk factors. This pathogenesis could reflect distinct vascular reactivity rather than arterial stiffness due to atherosclerosis.

URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01994720.