Restless legs syndrome in Parkinson's disease and increased cardiovascular risk

Abstract

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a disorder commonly found in patients with Parkinson's disease, with descriptions for both conditions impairing dopaminergic transmission in central nervous system. Previous studies in varied populations indicate an association between the presence of RLS and increased cardiovascular risk and, so far, there are no consistent studies of this association in Parkinson's disease. Objective: To analyze the influence of RLS on cardiovascular risk in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 202 patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and verified the presence of RLS, cardiovascular comorbidities, blood pressure measurements, lipid profiles and Framingham Risk Scores. Results: Statistically significant higher values of total cholesterol were found for the RLS group (mean 216.6 mg/dL), as well as for LDL cholesterol (mean 145 mg/dL). No statistical difference was found among the other factors. Conclusion: Patients with Parkinson's disease and RLS have a higher prevalence of dyslipidemia than patients without RLS, suggesting a correlation between restless legs and hyperlipidemia. It is questioned whether the dopaminergic substrate is the main factor in the genesis of the syndrome, as even with the use of dopaminergic agonists by both groups, it was possible to observe differences between groups. The hypothesis of the real interference of the syndrome treatment as a protective factor for cardiovascular risk was generated.

Serum lipids and the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Previous studies 37,38 have shown that more and more PD patients are complicated by hypertension, diabetes, hyperhomocysteine, dyslipidaemia, smoking and other risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases, suggesting that cognitive impairment in PD patients may be related with those risk factors. Cramer et al 39 conducted a 5‐year follow‐up study of 1674 non‐PD participants, and have found that statin lipid‐lowering drugs can reduce the incidence of cognitive dysfunction by about 50%.…”

Reduced regional activity and functional connectivity within sensorimotor network in Parkinson’s patients with restless legs syndrome

“…Impairment in dopaminergic transmission, common in the etiology of PD and RLS, may explain why the prevalence of RLS in patients with PD is high. 21 Dysfunction of dopaminergic signaling can directly change the brain network. Hence, we did fMRI analysis to investigate the altered patterns of brain activity and functional connections in PD patients with and without RLS by combining both ReHo and seed-based FC analyses.…”

A network meta‐analysis of the effectiveness and safety of drugs for restless legs syndrome in dialysis patients

“…Secondary RLS is common in endstage renal disease, iron deficiency anemia, pregnancy, rheumatic diseases, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and so on. [4][5][6][7] In 1995, the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) first proposed the four criteria for the diagnosis of RLS. 8 In 2014, the International RLS Study Group (IRLSSG) updated the five minimum diagnostic criteria for diagnosis of RLS.…”

“…Primary RLS is often accompanied by family inheritance, which is believed to be related to genes such as BTBD9 and Meis1. Secondary RLS is common in end‐stage renal disease, iron deficiency anemia, pregnancy, rheumatic diseases, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and so on 4–7 . In 1995, the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) first proposed the four criteria for the diagnosis of RLS 8 .…”