Background: Oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of neuronal death. Serum levels of urate or lipid were associated with the incidence of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Objective: We compared urate, paraoxonase-1 (PON1), iron, ferritin and lipid in sera of 119 PD patients and 120 healthy controls matched by age, sex and body mass index. We aimed to elucidate whether those serological data are correlated with disease progression. Results: Mean age (SD) of PD patients was 73.4 (8.7) years. Mean Yahr stage (SD) was 3.2 (0.9). Mean disease duration (SD) was 6.9 (5.1) years. Mean dose of L-DOPA (SD) was 355 (157) mg/day. As compared to controls, serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), urate and PON1 activity were significantly reduced, and serum ferritin levels were significantly increased in male and female PD patients. Serum urate levels and PON1 activities were inversely related, and serum ferritin levels were correlated with Yahr stage and PD duration in men and women. Serum levels of TC and LDL-C were inversely related to Yahr stage or PD duration in female patients. Conclusions: Our studies indicated serological profiles of urate, PON1, ferritin, TC and LDL-C in PD patients. These serological changes were linked to PD progression. Metabolism of lipid, oxidant- and antioxidant-related substances may contribute to the pathogenesis and the progression of PD.

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Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Syndrome (GSS) is an inherited prion disease characterized by midlife on-

A 34-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) presented with general fatigue, seizures and memory loss. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed a high signal area in the mesial temporal lobe bilaterally. Computed tomography scan of the chest and abdomen and ultrasound of pelvis detected no malignancy and tumour marker, antibodies to antineuronal antibodies (anti-Hu, anti-Ta and anti-Ma) and antibodies to voltage-gated potassium channels were all negative. The present case is limbic encephalitis (LE) associated with SLE and the pathogenesis may include autoimmunity shared. Our experience indicates that the immunologic spectrum of LE will expand to include additional immune mechanisms.

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