Objective: This study aimed to comprehensively analyze the temporal changes in body composition and blood nutritional metabolic biomarkers before the onset of Parkinson disease (PD) and to assess whether these factors influence the risk of occurrence of PD using the large UK Biobank database.
Background: Nutritional and metabolic factors play significant roles in PD. To date, there have been no large-scale prospective studies exploring their potential impacts on PD and the changes prior to the onset of PD.
Method: Between 2006 and 2010, participants from the UK Biobank who completed body composition assessments and blood tests were included in the analysis.
Results: The combination of Cox regression analysis and nested case-control studies revealed the following findings: Higher hand grip strength was associated with reduced risk of incidence of PD (P<0.001). Increased lymphocyte count, monocyte count, lymphocyte percentage, apolipoprotein B (APOB), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and urea lowered the risk of PD, and increased neutrophil percentage, insulin-like growth factor1 (IGF-1), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and direct bilirubin increased the risk of PD. Nonlinear COX regression analysis found that when whole-body impedance fell below 543.47 ohms (P=0.047) and left-arm impedance fell below 273.34 ohms (P=0.029). When lymphocyte counts were below 1.95 ×109 cells/L (P<0.001), mean sphered cell volume exceeded 83.74 U/L (P=0.028), alkaline phosphatase levels were above 104.75 U/L (P=0.016), alanine aminotransferase levels exceeded 60.16 U/L (P=0.002), and aspartate aminotransferase levels were above 40.07 U/L (P=0.002), the risk of developing PD was increased. Diabetes increased the risk of PD (HR=1.496, P<0.001).
Temporal Trends: Before the onset of diseases, PD patients showed lower grip strength, lymphocyte percentages, TC, LDL-C, APOB, TG, and urate, while neutrophil percentages, IGF-1, GGT, and direct bilirubin levels were higher than controls (Figure).
Conclusion: In summary, the study found that poor nutrition status and metabolic disturbances of the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas increased the incidence of PD, potentially serving as earlier biomarkers in the preclinical stage of the disease. Therefore, it is essential to monitor changes in these prodromal biomarkers for PD.
The temporal trajectories of biomarkers
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
J. Fu, X. Chen, H. Shang. Low Nutritional and Metabolic Abnormalities Predict the Incidence of Parkinson Diseases: A Large Prospective Cohort Study [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2025; 40 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/low-nutritional-and-metabolic-abnormalities-predict-the-incidence-of-parkinson-diseases-a-large-prospective-cohort-study/. Accessed October 5, 2025.« Back to 2025 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/low-nutritional-and-metabolic-abnormalities-predict-the-incidence-of-parkinson-diseases-a-large-prospective-cohort-study/