Antiepileptic drugs tied to risk of developing Parkinson's disease: JAMA

According to recent studies,  AED prescription is associated with an increased risk of subsequent PD. Still, the question here is, "What is the role of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in PD? and this has not been established.

Considering this, Belete et al. did a nested case-control study to investigate the association between certain AEDs and PD.

The critical study points are:

· The study data was collected from the UK Biobank (UKB) in 2006.

· The data extraction was done on June 30, 2021.

· Controls were matched at the ratio of 6:1 for age, sex, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

· A total of 222,106 participants were eligible for the study's enrolment.

· There were 1433 individuals diagnosed with PD, and the controls were 8598.

· There were 61 % men, and 97.5 % were white.

· The median age was 71 years.

· There was an association between AED prescriptions and incident PD with an OR of 1.80

· There was a trend for more prescription issues and multiple AEDs tied with a greater risk of PD.

To conclude, the researchers said that,

This is the first study to our knowledge investigating the association between a range of antiepileptic drugs and their association with incident PD.

The study has provided further insights into the latest literature, demonstrating this association.

Further reading:

Belete D et al. Association Between Antiepileptic Drugs and Incident Parkinson Disease in the UK Biobank. JAMA Neurol. Published online December 27, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.4699