Evaluation of hyperhomocysteinemia in the progression of Parkinson\u27s disease

Abstract: Objective: To assess the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and if this elevated serum level can be used as a predictive biomarker in risk assessment for the progression of cognitive decline in PD. Design: Systematic Literature Review Methods: A literature search was conducted through Google Scholar and Pubmed using phrases such as, “Parkinson\u27s Disease”, and “homocysteine”, “Parkinson’s progression. Three articles, measuring serum homocysteine levels and cognitive functioning in PD patients, were selected, analyzed, and compared to assess for a relationship between homocysteine levels and cognitive decline in PD. Results: Elevated homocysteine levels are associated with worse cognitive scores in some areas of neurocognitive testing in PD patients as compared to those with normal homocysteine levels. Conclusion: Though study results do show an inversely proportional relationship between homocysteine serum levels and cognitive function, the presence of confounding variables within PD subjects, as well as, the unknown physiologic mechanism of homocysteine and neurons, makes it difficult to find a causal relationship between elevated homocysteine and neurocognitive function in PD