Patients with vitiligo have a decreased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in Frontiers in Neurology.

Background

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately 0.3% of the general population, 1.0% of individuals over 60, and 3.0% of those over 80. Previous studies have shown that PD often coexists with autoimmune diseases, such as bullous pemphigoid, inflammatory bowel disease, and Sjogren's syndrome.

Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune condition that typically affects the hair, skin, and mucous membranes, manifesting as depigmented patches. It affects 0.1% to 2% of adults and children worldwide and is often associated with other autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 and 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, alopecia areata, and psoriasis.

Study

Researchers conducted a study to investigate the bidirectional associations between vitiligo and PD. They utilized data from Clalit Health Services, Israel's largest healthcare provider, covering the period from 2002 to 2019. The study employed both a cohort and a case-control design.

First, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to follow patients with vitiligo and estimate the incidence of new-onset PD. Second, a case-control study was used to estimate the prevalence of preceding PD in patients who later developed vitiligo. Outcome measures were adjusted for demographic variables and comorbidities such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and body mass index (BMI).

The study population included 123,326 patients, of which 20,852 had vitiligo, and 102,475 were controls. The mean age at vitiligo diagnosis was 34.7 years. Of the patients with vitiligo, 50.7% were female, and 73.4% were Jewish.

Results

The study found that vitiligo appears to confer a protective effect against the development of PD, with vitiligo patients being less susceptible to subsequent PD. However, it was also observed that patients with both vitiligo and PD had a 2.5-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality and a greater burden of cardiometabolic comorbidities compared to other vitiligo patients.

Notably, the presence of PD in patients with vitiligo was significantly associated with factors such as obesity, smoking, older age, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus.

 

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