LETTER TO JMG

¹ Division of Human Genetics, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
² Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA
³ Department of Neurology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr W C Nichols, Division of Human Genetics, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA;
bill.nichols@chmcc.org

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; parkin locus; linkage

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurological disorders in humans with an overall prevalence of 1:1000 with the incidence increasing to as high as 3.4% among people aged 75 years.^1,2 The clinical phenotype includes resting tremor, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. The signs and symptoms of the disease are the consequence of a striatal deficiency of dopamine resulting from neuronal death in the substantia nigra. It is characterised by the presence of the Lewy body, an intracytoplasmic inclusion body found in many brain regions which is not entirely specific to, but is a highly sensitive marker for, Parkinson's disease.

The pathogenesis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease is unknown. For the overwhelming majority of PD patients, the disease has previously been thought to occur sporadically. However, there is increasing evidence of a genetic contribution to the disorder.^1,3 Recently, two studies have investigated familial aggregation of PD using large, . . . [Full text of this article]

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