Study provides rationale for boosting urate concentration to slow disease progression
16 oct 2009 -- An increased concentration of the antioxidant urate in the serum or cerebral spinal fluid of a person with Parkinson's disease may slow the progression of clinical disability, according to a study published online Oct. 12 in the Archives of Neurology.
Alberto Ascherio, M.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data on subjects with early Parkinson's disease who participated in the 1987 to 1988 Deprenyl and Tocopherol Antioxidative Therapy of Parkinsonism (DATATOP) trial. The researchers evaluated pretreatment urate concentration in serum and cerebrospinal fluid and its association with disease progression to the point of clinical disability requiring levodopa therapy. The researchers found that the risk of clinical disability decreased as serum urate concentrations at baseline increased. However, the group treated with α-tocopherol (2000 IU/d) in the DATATOP trial had a higher risk of clinical disability and higher rate of change in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score than those not treated, suggesting it may have pro-oxidant properties at high doses. Cerebrospinal fluid urate concentration had a similar but weaker inverse relation to risk of clinical disability and rating scale score. "Higher serum and cerebrospinal fluid urate concentrations at baseline were associated with slower rates of clinical decline. The findings strengthen the link between urate concentration and Parkinson's disease and the rationale for considering central nervous system urate concentration elevation as a potential strategy to slow Parkinson's disease progression," the authors write. One study author reported receiving speaker and consulting fees and research grants from several pharmaceutical companies.
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