Parkinson's disease genome‐wide association study‐linked PARK16 variant is associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment: A 4‐year observational study

Abstract

AbstractBackground and purposeA genome‐wide association study‐linked variant (PARK16 rs6679073) modulates the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD). We postulate that there may be differences in clinical characteristics between PARK16 rs6679073 carriers and noncarriers. In a prospective study, we investigate the clinical characteristics between PARK16 rs6679073 A allele carriers and noncarriers over 4 years.MethodsA total of 204 PD patients, comprising 158 PARK16 rs6679073 A allele carriers and 46 noncarriers, were recruited. All patients underwent motor and nonmotor symptom and cognitive assessments yearly over 4 years.ResultsPARK16 rs6679073 carriers were less likely to have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to noncarriers at both baseline (48.1% vs. 67.4%, p = 0.027) and 4‐year follow‐up (29.3% vs. 58.6%, p = 0.007).ConclusionsPD PARK16 rs6679073 carriers had significantly lower frequency of MCI in a 4‐year follow‐up study, suggesting that the variant may have a neuroprotective effect on cognitive functions.