Understanding the link between type 2 diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's disease: role of brain insulin resistance.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's disease are chronic diseases linked to a growing pandemic that affects older adults and causes significant socio-economic burden. Epidemiological data supporting a close relationship between these two aging-related diseases have resulted in the investigation of shared pathophysiological molecular mechanisms. Impaired insulin signaling in the brain has gained increasing attention during the last decade and has been suggested to contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease through the dysregulation of several pathological processes.

Levodopa-entacapone-carbidopa intestinal gel: Data from the Swedish national registry for Parkinson's disease.

Background: Levodopa-entacapone-carbidopa intestinal gel (LECIG) was introduced on the Swedish market in 2019. The therapy is aimed at patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with fluctuations and dyskinesias. Long-term efficacy and safety data are lacking.

Pupil light reflex dynamics in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Visual disturbance is common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), and defective pupil light reflex (PLR) is an anticipated contributing factor that may be associated to the presence of autonomic dysfunction, which is a common non-motor feature of PD. Studies investigating the intercorrelation between PLR and dysautonomia in PD are limited.

Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate differences of PLR parameters, measured by eye-tracker, between patients with PD, with and without signs of dysautonomia, and healthy controls (HC).

Large-scale proximity extension assay reveals CSF midkine and DOPA decarboxylase as supportive diagnostic biomarkers for Parkinson's disease.

Background: There is a need for biomarkers to support an accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been a successful biofluid for finding neurodegenerative biomarkers, and modern highly sensitive multiplexing methods offer the possibility to perform discovery studies. Using a large-scale multiplex proximity extension assay (PEA) approach, we aimed to discover novel diagnostic protein biomarkers allowing accurate discrimination of PD from both controls and atypical Parkinsonian disorders (APD).

Reading Alterations in Parkinson's Disease Indicate Worse Cognitive Status.

Background: Reading difficulties are commonly reported in Parkinson's disease (PD). So far, only a few studies have assessed reading in PD, most of them confirming a different pattern in patients compared with healthy populations. Impaired oculomotor control is an early feature of PD.

Glycosphingolipid Changes in Plasma in Parkinson's Disease Independent of Glucosylceramide Levels.

Background: Alteration in glycosphingolipids (GSLs) in Parkinson's disease (PD) still needs to be determined.

Objectives: We evaluated if PD subjects show abnormal GSLs levels compared to healthy controls (HC) and if GSLs correlate with clinical features.

Methods: We analyzed GSLs and glucosylceramide (GlcCer) in plasma using two normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography assays; clinico-demographic data were extracted.

Glucocerebrosidase variant T369M is not a risk factor for Parkinson's disease in Sweden.

Introduction: Genetic variants in the Beta-glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA1) is a known risk factor for Parkinson's disease. The GBA1 mutations L444P, N370S and many other have been shown to associate with the disease in populations with diverse background. Some GBA1 polymorphisms have a less pronounced effect, and their pathogenicity has been debated.

Mechanical thrombectomy in stroke patients of working age: Real-world outcomes in Sweden.

Introduction: Outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in young stroke patients remain elusive due to small patient cohorts. We sought to determine outcomes after MT in stroke patients between ages 18 and 64 years and compare with outcomes in older patients in a large national stroke cohort.

Patients And Methods: We used the Swedish National Stroke Registry and the Swedish National Endovascular Thrombectomy Registry to identify all patients treated with MT for anterior circulation occlusions.

Neurocognitive profile of adults with the Norrbottnian type of Gaucher disease.

Introduction: Gaucher disease (GD) is a monogenic, lysosomal storage disorder, classified according to the presence of acute (type 2), chronic (type 3), or no (type 1) neurological manifestations. The Norrbottnian subtype of neuronopathic GD type 3 (GD3) is relatively frequent in the northern part of Sweden. It exhibits a wide range of neurological symptoms but is characterized by extended life expectancy compared to GD3 in other countries.

Multi-cohort profiling reveals elevated CSF levels of brain-enriched proteins in Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: Decreased amyloid beta (Aβ) 42 together with increased tau and phospho-tau in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is indicative of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the molecular pathophysiology underlying the slowly progressive cognitive decline observed in AD is not fully understood and it is not known what other CSF biomarkers may be altered in early disease stages.

Methods: We utilized an antibody-based suspension bead array to analyze levels of 216 proteins in CSF from AD patients, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and controls from two independent cohorts collected within the AETIONOMY consortium.

Euglycemia Indicates Favorable Motor Outcome in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: The interplay between glycemic control and Parkinson's disease (PD) has long been recognized but not fully understood.

Objectives: To investigate the association of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels with motor and cognitive symptom progression in a prospective PD cohort.

Methods: Of 244 PD patients, 17 had low HbA1c (≤30 mmol/mol), 184 were euglycemic (HbA1c 31-41 mmol/mol), 18 had high HbA1c (HbA1 ≥42 mmol/mol), and 25 had diabetes mellitus (DM).

Novel targeted therapies for Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second more common neurodegenerative disease with increasing incidence worldwide associated to the population ageing. Despite increasing awareness and significant research advancements, treatment options comprise dopamine repleting, symptomatic therapies that have significantly increased quality of life and life expectancy, but no therapies that halt or reverse disease progression, which remain a great, unmet goal in PD research. Large biomarker development programs are undertaken to identify disease signatures that will improve patient selection and outcome measures in clinical trials.

Fixation Duration and Pupil Size as Diagnostic Tools in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Visual and oculomotor problems are very common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and by using eye-tracking such problems could be characterized in more detail. However, eye-tracking is not part of the routine clinical investigation of parkinsonism.

Objective: To evaluate gaze stability and pupil size in stable light conditions, as well as eye movements during sustained fixation in a population of PD patients and healthy controls (HC).

Dietary patterns and food insecurity of students participating in a food aid programme: the Mediterranean perspective.

Background: To explore the effect of household food insecurity on dietary patterns of children and adolescents participating in a school food-aid programme in regions of Greece with low socioeconomic status.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the school year 2013-14, among 406 schools in low socioeconomic status regions of Greece. Dietary habits and sociodemographic characteristics of students and their families were recorded.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of Kininogen-1 Indicate Early Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in patients with PD. Core markers of Alzheimer's dementia have been related also to PD dementia, but no disease-specific signature to predict PD dementia exists to date.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate CSF markers associated with cognition in early PD.

Repurposing GLP1 agonists for neurodegenerative diseases.

There is a large unmet medical need to find disease modifying therapies against neurodegenerative diseases. This review summarizes data indicating that insulin resistance occurs in neurodegeneration and strategies to normalize insulin sensitivity in neurons may provide neuroprotective actions. In particular, recent preclinical and clinical studies in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease have indicated that glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) agonism and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibition may exert neuroprotection.

Decreased Cerebrospinal Fluid Aβ42 in Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease and White Matter Lesions.

Background: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), often manifesting as white matter lesions (WMLs), and Parkinson's disease (PD) are common disorders whose prevalence increases with age. Vascular risk factors contribute to SVD, but their role in PD is less clear.

Objectives: The study objective was to investigate the frequency and grade of WMLs in PD, and their association with clinical and biochemical parameters.

Novel Treatment Opportunities Against Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's Disease with an Emphasis on Diabetes-Related Pathways.

Cognitive impairment is highly prevalent in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and causes adverse health outcomes. Novel procognitive therapies are needed to address this unmet need. It is now established that there is an increased risk of dementia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and, moreover, T2DM and PD may have common underlying biological mechanisms.

Elevated plasma homocysteine upon ischemic stroke is associated with increased long-term mortality in women.

Background: Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death worldwide, despite preventive and therapeutic advances during the last twenty years. Blood-borne biomarkers have been studied in association to short- and long-term outcome, in order to investigate possible modifiable predictors of disability and death. Increased homocysteine has been associated with increased vascular risk and unfavorable outcome, but homocysteine lowering treatment has not consistently been successful in risk reduction.