Statins, Dopamine Loss, and Parkinson Disease Prognosis

Does prior use of statins affect nigrostriatal dopamine loss at the time of Parkinson disease diagnosis?

The authors of this study asked whether statin use affected longitudinal motor and cognitive outcomes by comparing 132 patients with Parkinson disease (PD) who used a statin and 362 PD patients who did not. All participants were PD-treatment naive during assessment and underwent dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging.

Compared with nonusers, statin users had significantly lower baseline dopamine transporter availability in the anterior (2.13 vs. 2.37), posterior (1.31 vs. 1.49), and ventral putamina (1.40 vs. 1.56). Linear regression confirmed these associations. During a mean 5.4 years of follow-up, statin use was associated with higher dopamine medication dosages and more dementia in adjusted analyses. The effect was not mediated by total chol…

Reviewing Author

Michael S. Okun, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America

Speaker’s BureauMedscape/WebMD CME, Movement Disorders Society CME, American Academy of Neurology CME

RoyaltiesBooks4Patients; Demos; Cambridge; Taylor and Francis; Robert Rose; Public Affairs

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; Parkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America; University of Florida Foundation

Editorial BoardsTremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements; JAMA Neurology

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesParkinson’s Foundation (Medical Advisor)