Association of rs62063857 variant of the saitohin gene with Parkinson's disease.

Saitohin gene found within the tau gene is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. The rs62063857 polymorphism originally found in the saitohin gene seems to be the responsible SNP in this event. This polymorphism is studied mostly in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Data on Parkinson's disease are scarce. Therefore, we examined the rs62063857 polymorphism in 583 Parkinson's disease patients (347 male and 236 female) and 396 healthy controls (238 male and 158 female) by a polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism method to see whether it was associated with Parkinson's disease from the City of Istanbul, Turkey. The G allele frequency was 22 % in overall controls and 16 % in Parkinson's disease patients. In this study, the saitohin rs62063857 polymorphism was associated with Parkinson's disease (χ2 = 16.765; P = 0.000). Individuals with the AA genotype showed 1.7-fold increased risk for Parkinson's disease (χ2 = 16.680; P = 0.000), whereas individuals with the AG genotype revealed protection against Parkinson's disease (χ2 = 14.554; P = 0.000). After the stratification analysis according to gender, both male and female PD patients showed association with the alleles and genotypes of the rs62063857 polymorphism of the saitohin gene (χ2 = 9.476, P = 0.009; χ2 = 7.593, P = 0.022, respectively). When the Parkinson's patients were divided into two groups with regard to onset of the disease, both groups showed association with the disease. The Parkinson's patients with disease onset below 65 years of age showed 1.8-fold increased risk for the disease. The Parkinson's patients with disease onset over 65 showed more robust association with a 2.051-fold increased risk for the disease. Consequently, the rs62063857 polymorphism of the saitohin gene is a genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease. Hence, this polymorphism may play a role in the etiology of Parkinson's disease.

Hyperthyroidism influences renal function.

PURPOSE: While the effects of hypothyroidism on renal function have been studied extensively, there is less information concerning the effect of hyperthyroidism. We aimed to elucidate the effect of overt and subclinical hyperthyroidism, on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with large number of patients treated for hyperthyroidism and after euthyroidism was achieved. METHOD: A total of 433 consecutive overt and subclinical hyperthyroid patients were included in the study. We assessed serum fT3, fT4, TSH, BUN, creatinine, and eGFR measurements during both hyperthyroid and euthyroid states of the same patients. The eGFR was calculated using the simplified modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) Formula. RESULTS: Among these patients, 367 had overt, and 66 had subclinical hyperthyroidism. fT3, fT4, and eGFR measurements decreased, meanwhile BUN, creatinine and TSH levels increased significantly after euthyroidism was achieved (p < 0.0001 for all). The correlation analyses revealed that eGFR in hyperthyroid state (eGFRh) and fT3 in hyperthyroid state (fT3h) (r = 0,210, p < 0,0001), and fT4 in hyperthyroid state (fT4h) (r = 0,176, p < 0,0001) were significantly correlated. ∆GFR did not differ between overt hyperthyroid group and subclinical hyperthyroid group. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a significant decline in eGFR measurements after the patients became euthyroid. Some of these patients had lower values than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, which mean that hyperthyroidism may be masking mild renal failure.