Association between clinical factors and orofacial dyskinesias in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

We aimed to determine whether demographic information, clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, and imaging features are associated with orofacial dyskinesias (OFLD) in patients with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, patients who were diagnosed with anti-NMDAR encephalitis were enrolled. All patients' factors, including demographic information, clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, and imaging features, were obtained at the time of hospitalization. The neurological function was assessed using the modified Rankin scale (mRS). Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the associations between clinical factors and OFLD.

RESULTS

In total, 119 patients (median age: 28.0 [19.0-41.0] years; 67 females) were recruited. Of 119 patients, 44 (37.0%) had OFLD. OFLD was associated with increased mRS at admission, serum sodium, lumbar puncture pressure, female biologic sex, fever, psychiatric symptoms, seizures, impaired consciousness, autonomic dysfunction, and central hypoventilation in univariate logistic regression, respectively. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that female biologic sex (odds ratios [OR], 4.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27-17.64; p = .021), increased mRS at admission (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.18-3.71; p = .011), psychiatric symptoms (OR, 7.27; 95% CI, 1.20-43.91; p = .031), and seizures (OR, 5.11; 95% CI, 1.22-21.43; p = .026) were associated with OFLD, after adjusting for confounding factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Our analysis suggests that the following clinical factors are associated with OFLD: female biologic sex, increased mRS at admission, psychiatric symptoms, and seizures.

Sex differences in movement disorders

A number of studies reported the possible differences between men and women in movement disorders. Evidence shows that estrogens may have a neuroprotective effect and may modulate the neurodevelopment of the different brain structures. Movement disorders including Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy body, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, and dystonia among others display significant clinical differences between sexes, with structural differences in the dopaminergic pathways between men and women. Here we summarize the most relevant clinical aspects of some of the most common movement disorders, highlighting the differences in disease onset, clinical presentation, therapy, and outcomes. Increased recognition of these differences may help physicians better understand the pathophysiology of these conditions and provide a tailored therapeutic approach.

Sleep in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of polysomnographic findings

Polysomnographic studies have been conducted to explore sleep changes in Parkinson's disease (PD), but the relationships between sleep disturbances and PD are imperfectly understood. We conducted a systematic review of the literature exploring polysomnographic differences between PD patients and controls in EMBASE, MEDLINE, All EBM databases, CINAHL, and PsycIFNO. 67 studies were identified for systematic review, 63 of which were used for meta-analysis. Meta-analyses revealed significant reductions in total sleep time, sleep efficiency, N2 percentage, slow wave sleep, rapid eye movement sleep (REM) percentage, and increases in wake time after sleep onset, N1 percentage, REM latency, apnea hypopnea index, and periodic limb movement index in PD patients compared with controls. There were no remarkable differences in sleep continuity or sleep architecture between PD patients with and without REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Our study suggests that PD patients have poor sleep quality and quantity. Sex, age, disease duration, presence of RBD, medication status, cognitive impairment, and adaptation night are factors that contributed to heterogeneity between studies.

Sex differences in movement disorders

In a range of neurological conditions, including movement disorders, sex-related differences are emerging not only in brain anatomy and function, but also in pathogenesis, clinical features and response to treatment. In Parkinson disease (PD), for example, oestrogens can influence the severity of motor symptoms, whereas elevation of androgens can exacerbate tic disorders. Nevertheless, the real impact of sex differences in movement disorders remains under-recognized. In this article, we provide an up-to-date review of sex-related differences in PD and the most common hyperkinetic movement disorders, namely, essential tremor, dystonia, Huntington disease and other chorea syndromes, and Tourette syndrome and other chronic tic disorders. We highlight the most relevant clinical aspects of movement disorders that differ between men and women. Increased recognition of these differences and their impact on patient care could aid the development of tailored approaches to the management of movement disorders and enable the optimization of preclinical research and clinical studies.

Movement disorders in pregnancy

Movement disorders in women during pregnancy are uncommon. Therefore, high quality studies are limited, and guidelines are lacking for the treatment of movement disorders in pregnancy, thus posing a significant therapeutic challenge for the treating physicians. In this chapter, we discuss movement disorders that arise during pregnancy and the preexisting movement disorders during pregnancy. Common conditions encountered in pregnancy include but are not limited to restless legs syndrome, chorea gravidarum, Parkinson disease, essential tremor, and Huntington disease as well as more rare movement disorders (Wilson's disease, dystonia, etc.). This chapter summarizes the published literature on movement disorders and pharmacologic and surgical considerations for neurologists and physicians in other specialties caring for patients who are pregnant or considering pregnancy.

Sex-Related Prognostic Predictors for Parkinson Disease Undergoing Subthalamic Stimulation

BACKGROUND

A few reports have addressed the sex-related efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) to treat advanced Parkinson disease (PD). The present study evaluates the sex-related prognostic factors for STN-DBS outcomes.

METHODS

Seventy-two consecutive patients (48 men and 24 women) were reviewed retrospectively. Changes in the Unified PD Rating Scale scores were compared between men and women in the 6-month drug-off/DBS-on state relative to the preoperative drug-off baseline. A multivariate linear regression model was used to identify the preoperative factors predictive of motor improvements after surgery.

RESULTS

Before surgery, the male and female patient groups were comparable in clinical severity, except the women were associated with slightly inferior cognition (P < 0.05) and a relatively better response to levodopa (LD) (P < 0.05) than the men. Both sexes showed similar clinical improvements after STN-DBS therapy. In men, preoperative lower LD requirement and higher motor dysfunction, particularly tremor (adjusted R(2) = 0.613, P < 0.001), as well as greater improvement in tremor and rigidity after LD therapy (adjusted R(2) = 0.232, P = 0.001) were favorable predictors of surgical outcomes. Women achieved a significant improvement if they performed well in activities of daily living even with higher baseline motor scores (adjusted R(2) = 0.620, P < 0.001), or exhibited improvements in akinesia disability after preoperative LD therapy (adjusted R(2) = 0.305, P = 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS

STN-DBS therapy is equally beneficial for both sexes. Sex-related differences exist with regard to favorable prognostic predictors for early surgical outcomes.

The X-Linked Hypothesis of Brain Disorders

In this article, we propose an X-linked hypothesis of brain disorders that postulates a neuronal origin of those neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders with a greater male prevalence. The hypothesis is based on the accumulated genetics and genomic evidence linking X chromosome genes and transcripts to neuronal cells. The behavioral genetics literature has long pointed to the link between postsynaptic protein complexes coded on chromosome X and mental retardation. More recently, novel genomic evidence has emerged of X-linked mRNA overexpression of neuronal source in the human brain. We review the evidence for this hypothesis and its consistency with the distribution across genders of brain disorders of known aetiology. We then provide examples of the utilization of this hypothesis in the investigation of the pathophysiology of complex brain disorders in both the stratification of disease cohorts and the development of realistic preclinical models. We conclude by providing a general framework for testing its validity, which will be exploited in future studies, and provide future directions for research.

Comparing clinical features of young onset, middle onset and late onset Parkinson's disease

BACKGROUND

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects 1-2% of the population over 65 years. There is evidence that the clinical features differ with age at symptom onset, but published information is scarce.

METHODS

We reviewed the charts of 593 PD patients and divided them into young onset (≤49 years), middle onset (50-69 years) and late onset (≥70 years) groups. Data collected included age at symptom onset, year of onset, family history of Parkinson's disease in first and second degree relatives, predominant first symptom, first anti parkinsonian medication prescribed, frequency of levodopa-induced dyskinesia, therapy related dystonia, therapy related gastrointestinal side effects, hallucination, dementia, depression and apathy.

RESULTS

The middle onset was the largest group (51%), followed by the late onset (39%) and the young onset (10%) groups. Young onset patients had a more frequent family history of Parkinson's disease and a longer survival. Symptoms other than tremor were more frequent as the initial symptom of the young onset group, and the frequency of tremor as the first symptom increased with advancing age at onset. Depression was more frequent in the young onset group. The frequency of treatment related dyskinesia or dystonia decreased with advancing age at onset.

CONCLUSION

We have identified specific clinical differences in Parkinson's disease related to the patient's age at onset and added to the existing knowledge of the variability of disease presentation. We suggest an age of onset of 49 years or less for the definition of young onset PD.