Evaluation of the relationship between zonulin and claudin-5 levels and prodromal stage symptoms, disease onset age, disease TYPE, disease stage, and gender in idiopathic parkinson's disease patients

AIM: Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease is a chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative disease that affects the basal ganglia, especially the substantia nigra pars compacta and dopaminergic neurons in the brain stem. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. The aim of our study is to evaluate whether the relationship between Zonulin and Claudin-5 levels and prodromal stage symptoms, disease onset age, disease type, disease stage and gender in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 139 volunteers, including 34 early, 33 intermediate, 39 advanced stage patients who were diagnosed with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease and were regularly treated for at least 1 year and 33 healthy controls were included in the study. The patients' files were examined and demographic data, age of onset, duration of the disease, type of the disease and drugs were noted. UPDRS and H&Y scales were evaluated and they were divided into stages according to scores. Prodromal stage symptoms, history of appendectomy and presence of non-motor symptoms were noted. Zonulin and Claudin-5 levels in the serum of the patient and control groups were studied. RESULTS: The mean Zonulin value was 16.0±10.5 in the patient group, while the mean Zonulin value was 11.1±4.3 in the control group. The Zonulin value of the patient group was found to be statistically significantly (p <0.05) higher than the control group. Again, while the mean Claudin-5 value in the patient group was 8.4±5.5, the mean Claudin-5 value in the control group was 6.2±3.4, which was found to be significantly (p <0.05) higher in the patient group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: We think multicenter studies are needed to reach a clear decision on whether Zonulin and Claudin-5 levels can be used as biomarkers in İdiopathic Parkinson's Disease. Keywords: Brain-intestinal axis, claudin-5, idiopathic parkinson's disease, zonulin