TOPIC OF CONCERN - Parkinson's Disease
Our Involvement | Research | Other Resources
About Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease symptoms were first described in 1817 by the English physician James Parkinson. It affects about one million people in the United States. It usually strikes after age 50, and is characterized by tremor, rigid movement, slowed gait, and stooped posture.
People with Parkinson's disease have low levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps coordinate muscle activity. Dopamine usually inhibits nerve activity, so without it nerve pathways can overload. These excess signals can overexcite the muscles, causing them to stiffen and "lock-up", as might a computer attempting to run too many programs at once.
While the cause of Parkinson's disease remains largely unexplained, research findings implicate environmental toxicants. Recent thinking also emphasizes the significance of gene/environment interactions. Several laboratories in the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences are probing those connections.
Our Involvement
Faculty
- Harvey Checkoway, PhD
- Lucio Costa, PhD
- Jordan Firestone, MD, PhD, MPH
- Gary Franklin, MD, MPH
- Zhengui Xia, PhD
Courses
- ENV H 571 Neuroepidemiology and Environmental Risk Factors
Centers and Institutes
News Coverage
Iron, Manganese & Parkinson's, Environmental Health News spring/summer 2003
Harvey Checkoway Distinguished Faculty Lecture, Environmental Health News winter 2003
Researching Parkinson's disease, DEOHS Biennial Report 1997-1999
Research
Graduates Students
- Jordan Firestone, MD, PhD, MPH (2002)
- Pesticides and Parkinson's disease, risk estimates from a case-control study (Harvey Checkoway)
- Samir Kelada, PhD (2006)
- 5' and 3' region variability in the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3) and Parkinson's disease (Lucio Costa)
- Heather Klintworth, MS (2005)
- Signaling mechanisms of paraquat-induced apoptosis: A model for Parkinson's disease (Zhengui Xia)
Peer Reviewed Publications
Checkoway H, Powers KM, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, et al. Parkinson's disease risks associated with cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and caffeine intake. Am J Epidemiol 2002; 155:732-738.
Costa LG, Kelada SN, Costa-Mallen P, Farin FM, Viernes HA, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, Longstreth WT Jr, Swanson PD, Checkoway H, Furlong CE. Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) polymorphisms and Parkinson's disease. Neurosci Res Commun 2004; 34:130–135.
Costa-Mallen P, Afsharinejad Z, Kelada SN, Costa LG, Franklin GM, Swanson PD, Longstreth WT Jr, Viernes HM, Farin FM, Smith-Weller T, Checkoway H. DNA sequence analysis of monoamine oxidase B gene coding and promoter regions in Parkinson's disease cases and unrelated controls. Mov Disord 2004; 19(1):76–83.
Farin FM, Janssen P, Quigley S, Abbott D, Hassett C, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, Swanson PD, Longstreth WT, Omiecinski CJ, Checkoway H. Genetic polymorphisms of microsomal and soluble epoxide hydrolase and the risk of Parkinson's disease. Pharmacogenetics 2001; 11:703-708.
Firestone JA, Smith-Weller T, Franklin G, Swanson P, Longstreth WT Jr, Checkoway H. Pesticides and risk of Parkinson disease: A population-based case-control study. Arch Neurol 2005; 62(1):91–95.
Hernan MA, Checkoway H, O'Brien R, et al. Monoamine oxidase B intron 13 and catechol-O-methyltransferase codon 158 polymorphisms, cigarette smoking, and the risk of Parkinson's disease. Neurology 2002; 58:1381-1387.
Hsuan SL, Klintworth HM, Xia Z. Basic fibroblast growth factor protects against rotenone-induced dopaminergic cell death through activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase pathways. J Neurosci 2006;26(17):4481-4491.
Kelada SN, Checkoway H, Kardia SL, Carlson CS, Costa-Mallen P, Eaton DL, Firestone J, Powers KM, Swanson PD, Franklin GM, Longstreth WT Jr, Weller TS, Afsharinejad Z, Costa LG. 5' and 3' region variability in the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3), pesticide exposure and Parkinson's Disease risk: A hypothesis generating study. Hum Mol Genet. 2006; 15(20):3055-62.
Kelada SN, Costa-Mallen P, Checkoway H, Furlong CE, Jarvik GP, Viernes HA, Farin FM, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, Longstreth WT, Swanson PD, Costa LG. Paraoxonase 1 promoter and coding region polymorphisms in Parkinson's disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psych 2003; 74:546-547.
Kelada SN, Costa-Mallen P, Costa LG, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, Swanson PD, Longstreth WT, Jr., Checkoway H. Gender difference in the interaction of smoking and monoamine oxidase B intron 13 genotype in Parkinson's disease. Neurotoxicology 2002; 23:515-519.
Kelada SN, Stapleton PL, Farin FM, Bammler TK, Eaton DL, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, Swanson PD, Lonsgstreth WT, Jr., Checkoway H. Glutathione S-transferase M1, T1, and P1 polymorphisms and Parkinson's disease. Neurosci Lett 2003; 337:5-8.
Klintworth H, Newhouse K, Li T, Choi WS, Faigle R, Xia Z. Activation of c-Jun N-Terminal protein kinase is a common mechanism underlying paraquat- and rotenone-induced dopaminergic cell apoptosis. Toxicol Sci 2007 Feb 25; [Epub ahead of print]
Okada S, Farin FM, Stapleton P, Viernes H, Quigley SD, Powers KM, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, Longstreth WT Jr, Swanson PD, Checkoway H. No associations between Parkinson's disease and polymorphisms of the quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1, NQO2) genes. Neurosci Lett 2005; 375:178–180.
Newhouse K, Hsuan SL, Chang SH, Cai B, Wang Y, Xia Z. Rotenone-induced apoptosis is mediated by p38 and JNK MAP kinases in human dopaminergic SH-SY5Y cells. Toxicol Sci. 2004;79(1):137-146.
Peretz C, Alexander BH, Nagahama S, Domino KB, Checkoway H. Parkinson's disease mortality among male anesthesiologists and internists. Mov Disord 2005; 20(12):1614–1617.
Powers KM, Smith-Weller T, Franklin GM, Longstreth WT, Swanson PD, Checkoway H. Parkinson's disease risks associated with dietary iron, manganese, and other nutrient intakes. Neurology 2003; 60:1761-1766.
Ton TG, Heckbert SR, Longstreth WT Jr, Rossing MA, Kukull WA, Franklin GM, Swanson PD, Smith-Weller T, Checkoway H. Calcium channel blockers and beta-blockers in relation to Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2007;13(3):165-169.
Conference Presentations
Checkoway H. Searching for the causes of Parkinson's disease, Harvard School of Public Health, May 1, 2003. Firestone, J. Welding, manganese, and parkinsonism: Not (yet) enough to shake a stick at, Puget Sound Occupational and Environmental Medicine Grand Rounds, Apr 14, 2005, Seattle
Klintworth H, Xia Z. Signaling pathways of paraquat-induced apoptosis: A model for Parkinson's disease, Society of Toxicology, March 6–10, 2005, New Orleans
Xia Z, Choi W, Klintworth H, Hsuan S, Kruse S, Palmiter R. Molecular mechanisms underlying dopaminergic cell death, Society of Toxicology, March 5–9, 2006, San Diego
Other Resources
- Medline Plus (National Library of Medicine)
- Superfund research nationwide
