Polymorphism of the prion protein gene in German patients with Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy

Introduction: Movement disorders presenting with parkinsonism may share clinical and histopathological features with Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD). According to Deslys et al. (1994) and Palmer and co-workers (1991) a prion protein (PRNP) genotype homozygous for methionine or valine at codon 129 predisposes to sporadic and iatrogenic CJD. To investigate a possible genetic link between parkinsonian syndromes and CJD we studied the polymorphism of the PRNP gene at codon 129 in 55 German patients with PD, multiple system atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Subjects and Methods: Genomic DNA from…