http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/uok-sda112911.phpPublic release date: 29-Nov-2011
Contact: Allison Elliott
allison.elliott@uky.edu
http://www.uky.edu/">University of Kentucky
Study demonstrates a connection between a common chemical and Parkinson's disease
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A University of Kentucky faculty member is a contributing author on a new study demonstrating a connection between a common solvent chemical and Parkinson's disease. Dr. Franca Cambi of the UK Kentucky Neuroscience Institute collaborated with researchers from across the U.S. on a paper recently published in the Annals of Neurology. The novel study looked at a cohort of human twins wherein one twin had been occupationally exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) and other chemicals believed to be linked to development of Parkinson's.
TCE has been previously linked to Parkinson's disease through prior research by University of Kentucky authors and others, including the 2008 paper "Trichloroethylene: Parkinsonism and complex 1 mitochondrial neurotoxicity", and the 2010 paper "Trichloroethylene induces dopaminergic neurodegeneration in Fisher 344 rats". The 2008 paper was based upon a study of factory workers in a facility using chemicals that have been linked to development of Parkinson's disease.
In the most recent paper, the authors demonstrated that in addition to TCE, increase in Parkinson's disease risk is also associated with exposure to percholorethylene (PERC) and carbon tetrachloride (CCI4).
The current epidemiological study, led by Drs. Samuel Goldman and Caroline Tanner of The Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, Ca., investigated exposure to TCE, PERC and CCI4 as they related to risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The team interviewed 99 twin pairs from the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council World War II Veteran Twins Cohort in which one twin had Parkinson's and one didn't, inquiring about lifetime occupations and hobbies. Lifetime exposures to six specific solvents previously linked to Parkinson's in medical literature -- n-hexane, xylene, toluene, CCl4, TCE and PERC -- were inferred for each job or hobby typically involving exposure to the chemicals.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ana.22629