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Olfactory dysfunction is associated with motor function only in tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease

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Abstract

Background

The prevalence of olfactory impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is 50–90%, and therefore, olfactory dysfunction is one of the most prevalent non-motor symptoms (NMSs) in patients with PD. Numerous studies have evaluated the association between motor and non-motor symptoms and olfactory dysfunction in PD.

Aim

In this study, we investigated the relationship between olfactory dysfunction, which is measured using the UPSIT test, with other motor and non-motor symptoms separately in three motor subtypes of PD, including tremor dominant (TD), postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD), and indeterminate and healthy subjects.

Methods

We recruited 487 early-stage PD patients (43 PIGD, 406 TD, and 38 indeterminate) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 197) from the Parkinson Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). All participants completed motor and non-motor tests at baseline visit and after 4 years of follow-up. Subjects underwent common PD scaling tests.

Results

Olfactory dysfunction was significantly correlated with declined motor functions only in the TD subtype. Also, significant correlations were noticed between olfactory dysfunction and speed-attention processing and executive function in the HCs as well. Finally, no significant or meaningful association was observed in the PIGD and indeterminate subtype. Anosmia and hyposmia subjects in the TD group had the worse motor and non-motor scores compared to normosmia subjects after 4 years.

Conclusion

Olfactory dysfunction was significantly correlated with declined motor functions in the TD subtype. This is indicating that olfactory dysfunction may be an early motor and non-motor biomarker only in the TD subtype. However, it is possible that the involvement of olfactory function in other subtypes is not strong enough to make it a useful marker of diseases progression.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available upon request with no restriction.

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Acknowledgements

Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database (www.ppmi-info.org/data) was our primary source of data in this research. For up-to-date information on the study, see www.ppmiinfo.org. We gratefully thank all sponsors and funders of PPMI including the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, AbbVie, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Covance, GE Healthcare, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Eli Lilly and Company, Lundbeck, Merck, Meso Scale Discovery (MSD), Pfizer, Piramal Imaging, Roche, Servier, and UCB (www.ppmi-info.org/fundingpartners).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Research Group (NRG), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran

    Fardin Nabizadeh

  2. School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Fardin Nabizadeh

  3. School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran

    Kasra Pirahesh

  4. Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan, Iran

    Elham Khalili

  5. Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan, Iran

    Elham Khalili

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  1. Fardin Nabizadeh
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Contributions

FN and KP designed the study, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper; FN, EKH, and KP collected the data, analyzed and interpreted the data, and wrote the draft version of the manuscript. The manuscript was revised and approved by all authors.

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Correspondence to Fardin Nabizadeh.

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Since the data in this paper were obtained from the PPMI database (ppmi.loni.usc.edu), it does not include any research involving human or animal subjects.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nabizadeh, F., Pirahesh, K. & Khalili, E. Olfactory dysfunction is associated with motor function only in tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease. Neurol Sci 43, 4193–4201 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-022-05952-w

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