Evaluating striated esophageal contractility as a novel biomarker in Parkinson's disease patients without dysphagia

초록

Background: Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disease, and more than 80 % of Parkinson's disease patients complain of oropharyngeal dysphagia. Association between striated muscle contractility and Parkinson's disease has been suggested, but it has not been established in asymptomatic early-onset patients. This study aimed to compare striated muscle contractility in PD patients without dysphagia symptoms. Methods: The results of the HRM study conducted on 93 Parkinson's disease patients without dysphagia symptom who visited a tertiary care institution were analyzed. The mean age was 72.1 years. The results of 60 healthy patients without dysphagia were analyzed and compared. Patients with abnormal findings based on Chicago Classification 4.0 were identified. Factors related to the progression of Parkinson's disease, such as Hoehn and Yahr scale (H&Y score) and unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS), were analyzed. Results: In patients with Parkinson's disease without dysphagia, striated esophageal contractile integral was significantly reduced compared with normal healthy controls. The striated esophageal contractile integral and UPDRS demonstrated a statistically significant negative correlation. The distal esophageal contractile integral did not show any significant difference between groups. Conclusions: Patients with Parkinson's disease without dysphagia is associated with a significant decrease in striated esophagus contractility compared to non-PD and healthy controls. This finding may play a pathophysiologic role in development of dysphagia in this patient population. Measuring esophageal contractility could help in early diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, or evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in PD.