Lower Lymphocyte Count is Associated With Increased Risk of Parkinson's Disease
Melanie P Jensen1,2, Benjamin Meir Jacobs1, Ruth Dobson1
1Preventive Neurology Unit, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Annals of Neurology
|February 2, 2021
Summary
Lower lymphocyte counts in peripheral blood are linked to a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD). This immune marker may serve as a potential biomarker for predicting PD onset.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimmunology
- Biomarker Discovery
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with peripheral immune system alterations.
- Investigating immune cell profiles may reveal predictive biomarkers for PD.
- Understanding immune dysregulation is crucial for PD pathogenesis research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if peripheral immune dysregulation, specifically leukocyte differential counts, predicts the risk of subsequent Parkinson's disease diagnosis.
- To explore the association between baseline immune markers and incident PD in a large cohort.
Main Methods:
- Utilized UK Biobank (UKB), a longitudinal cohort of ~500,000 participants.
- Examined baseline differential leukocyte counts and other inflammation markers in relation to incident PD.
- Employed sensitivity analyses and Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess causality.
Main Results:
- Lower lymphocyte count was significantly associated with an increased risk of subsequent PD diagnosis (OR=1.18, p=0.01).
- Evidence suggested associations for reduced eosinophils, monocytes, and C-reactive protein (CRP), and increased neutrophils.
- The association between lower lymphocyte count and PD risk remained robust under sensitivity analyses and MR suggested a potential causal link (OR_MR=1.09, p=0.02).
Conclusions:
- Converging evidence from observational data and MR indicates that lower lymphocyte count is associated with increased Parkinson's disease risk.
- Lymphocyte count may serve as a potential predictive biomarker for Parkinson's disease.
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