K-variant BCHE and pesticide exposure: Gene-environment interactions in a case-control study of Parkinson's disease in Egypt.

Pesticide exposure is associated with increased risk of Parkinson's disease (PD). We investigated in Egypt whether common variants in genes involved in pesticide detoxification or transport might modify the risk of PD evoked by pesticide exposure. We recruited 416 PD patients and 445 controls. Information on environmental factors was collected by questionnaire-based structured interviews. Candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 15 pesticide-related genes were genotyped. We analyzed the influence of environmental factors and SNPs as well as the interaction of pesticide exposure and SNPs on the risk of PD. The risk of PD was reduced by coffee consumption [OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43-0.90, P = 0.013] and increased by pesticide exposure [OR = 7.09, 95% CI: 1.12-44.01, P = 0.036]. The SNP rs1126680 in the butyrylcholinesterase gene BCHE reduced the risk of PD irrespective of pesticide exposure [OR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.20-0.70, P = 0.002]. The SNP rs1803274, defining K-variant BCHE, interacted significantly with pesticide exposure (P = 0.007) and increased the risk of PD only in pesticide-exposed individuals [OR = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.50-4.19, P = 0.0005]. The K-variant BCHE reduces serum activity of butyrylcholinesterase, a known bioscavenger for pesticides. Individuals with K-variant BCHE appear to have an increased risk for PD when exposed to pesticides.

Long-term evaluation of neuromyopathy in live donor FMF amyloidotic kidney transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Neuromyopathy was reported to be a problem among live donor familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) amyloid kidney transplant recipients. We aimed to address this issue on a long-term basis. METHODS: 14 FMF amyloid live donor kidney transplant recipients with a mean post-transplant follow-up period of 82.43 +/- 50.1 months in comparison to a control group of 19 non-amyloid renal transplant patients were subjected to thorough neurological examination, laboratory and electrophysiologic studies. RESULTS: Both groups were comparable with regard to mean serum creatinine levels cyclosporine doses (p > 0.05), however trough cyclosporine levels were significantly lower in the amyloidotics than the controls (p = 0.04). Serum creatine phosphokinase was comparable in both groups (p = 0.59). The amyloid patients showed significantly increased polyphasic motor unit potentials and abnormal interference patterns in the biceps brachii muscle (p = 0.03) and the abductor polices brevis muscle (p = 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed a significant level for biceps myopathy in amyloidotics (p = 0.001). Both groups attained no difference with regard to median nerve conduction velocity. CONCLUSION: Electrophysiologically evidenced neuromyopathy is more liable to occur in long-term live donor FMF amyloidotic kidney transplant recipients than in the other non-amyloidotic kidney transplant recipients even with no clinical manifestations or high creatine phosphokinase levels.