Hepatitis C

Could Hepatitis C Infection Increase Risk of Parkinson Disease?

Individuals infected with hepatitis C are at increased risk of developing subsequent Parkinson disease (PD), according to the results of a recent study.

In order to examine the association between viral hepatitis and PD, researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study analyzing mortality data from a large UK hospital database including nearly 22,000 individuals with hepatitis B, 48,000 with hepatitis C, 6000 with autoimmune hepatitis, 4000 with chronic active hepatitis, and nearly 20,000 with HIV. These records were compared with a group of more than 6 million individuals with minor conditions.
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Overall, individuals with hepatitis C were 51% more likely to develop PD than individuals in the comparison group. A total of 73 individuals with hepatitis C developed PD, compared with the expected rate of 49 cases in the general population.

Further, individuals with hepatitis B were 76% more likely to develop PD than those in the comparison group. Those with autoimmune hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, and HIV did not have an increased risk of PD. 

“These findings may be explained by factors peculiar to viral hepatitis, but whether it reflects consequences of infection, shared disease mechanisms, or the result of antiviral treatment remains to be elucidated,” the researchers concluded. “Further work is needed to confirm this association and to investigate pathophysiologic pathways, potentially advancing etiologic understanding of PD more broadly.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Pakpoor J, Noyce A, Goldacre R, et al. Viral hepatitis and Parkinson disease [published online March 29, 2017]. doi: http:/​/​dx.​doi.​org/​10.​1212/​WNL.​0000000000003848.