For immediate release: Thursday, June 21, 2007
Boston, MA — In a new, large-scale, prospective study exploring the link between levels of urate in the blood and risk of Parkinson’s disease, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that high levels of urate are strongly associated with a reduced risk of the disease. The findings were published online on June 20, 2007 in The American Journal of Epidemiology and will appear in an upcoming print issue of the journal
Urate is a normal component of blood, and although high levels can lead to gout, urate might also have beneficial effects because it is a potent antioxidant. Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive nerve disorder associated with destruction of brain cells producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential to the normal functioning of the central nervous system.
The researchers found that men in the top quartile of blood urate concentration had 55 percent lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than men in the bottom quartile. This difference was not explained by differences in age or other risk factors for Parkinson’s disease. The results of two previous studies had suggested a possible inverse relation between blood urate and risk of Parkinson’s disease, but it is only when the previous data were combined with those of this new study that the evidence became compelling.
The authors hypothesize that urate’s antioxidant properties may help dampen the effects of oxidative stress, which appears to contribute to the progressive loss of the dopamine-producing brain cells that occurs in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.