AUTHOR=Zhang Fengjiao , Chen Bin , Ren Wenhua , Yan Yayun , Zheng Xiaoqi , Jin Shuxian , Chang Ying 

TITLE=Association analysis of dopaminergic degeneration and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in Parkinson’s disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=16

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2024.1377994

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2024.1377994

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>Peripheral inflammatory responses are suggested to play a major role in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a new recognized biomarker, can reflect peripheral inflammation in PD. However, the association between the NLR and dopaminergic degeneration in PD remains unclear.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>In this retrospective study, 101 enrolled PD patients were categorized into early-stage and advanced-stage PD based on the Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scale. We evaluated the clinical characteristics, peripheral immune profile, and 11C-CFT striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) binding levels. Linear regression analyses were employed to assess the associations between NLR and striatal DAT levels at different stages in PD patients.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Covariate-controlled regression analysis revealed that higher NLR was significantly associated with lower DAT levels in the caudate (β = −0.27, <italic>p</italic> = 0.003) and the putamen (β = −0.27, <italic>p</italic> = 0.011). Moreover, in the early-stage PD subgroup, a similar association was observed (caudate: β = −0.37, <italic>p</italic> = 0.013; putamen: β = −0.45, <italic>p</italic> = 0.005). The lymphocytes count was correlated positively with the striatal DAT levels in the Spearman correlation analysis whether in total patients (caudate: ρ = 0.25, <italic>p</italic> = 0.013; putamen: ρ = 0.22, <italic>p</italic> = 0.026) or in the early-stage subgroup (caudate: ρ = 0.31, <italic>p</italic> = 0.023, putamen: ρ = 0.34, <italic>p</italic> = 0.011).</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Dopaminergic degeneration is associated with peripheral inflammation in PD. The NLR, a widely used inflammatory marker, may have the potential to reflect the degree of dopaminergic degeneration in individuals with early-stage PD.</p></sec>