Objective: To assess the possible connection between PD and glucose metabolism (GM) by analyzing the levels of biomarkers of GM in patients with PD.

Background: The relationship between Parkinson’s disease (PD) GM remains controversial. Our objective was to assess the possible connection between PD and GM by analyzing the levels of biomarkers of GM in patients with PD.

Method: PD patients were consecutively recruited from our movement disorder clinic. Healthy controls (HC) were PD patients’ partners. We conducted a medical interview with demographic and clinical data to all the participants. The motor, non-motor and cognitive states of both groups were evaluated clinically. Blood was collected after overnight fasting. Glucose and glycosilated haemoglobin were measured routinely and insulin and amylin levels by specific ELISA.

Results: We enrolled 117 participants: 39 HC and 79 PD. There were no differences in age or sex. There were no differences in body mass index. In direct pair-wise comparisons there were no statistically significant differences in the quantitative values of the four GM biomarkers between PD and HC. However, the proportion of subjects below the insulin median value of the sample (7.65 mU/L) was significantly higher in the PD group that HC (<7.65 mU/L insulin: 44 PD/14 HC; ≥7.65 mU/L: 33 PD/25 HC; p=0.049). Exploring by the median cohort age, we found that amylin was higher in PD ≥ 67 years than in controls ≥ 67 years (p=0.041). The amylin/insulin ratio was significantly higher in the PD group than in HC (p=0.018). Finally, adjusting for age and sex, we observed that insulin levels <7.65 mU/L, female sex, advanced age and increasing blood glucose values, were significantly associated with PD in a binary logistic regression model including all these variables.

Conclusion: Even though in contrast to previous studies we have not found differences in glucose between PD and HC, we have observed a significant difference in the ratio of amylin/insulin secretion in PD versus HC. These findings suggest a possible mild alteration in GM in PD that deserves to be further explored in view of their potential pathophysiological, diagnostic and even therapeutic relevance.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/amylin-and-insulin-in-parkinsons-disease-patients-a-clinical-and-metabolic-study/