Objective: To review and analyze the associations between β-adrenoreceptor medications and risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Background: Distinctive Lewy body mainly composed of α-synuclein is an important pathological feature of Parkinson’s disease. A drug screening test targeting at α-synuclein gene expression identified a significant suppression with selective β2-adrenoreceptor agonists. Several studies had been conducted to investigate the association between β-adrenoreceptors medications and risk of Parkinson’s disease, drawing inconsistent conclusions.

Method: Literature review.

Results: Several studies suggested a significant positive and dose-dependent association between risk of Parkinson’s disease and non-selective β-antagonists such as propranolol, while β2-agonists such as albuterol showed a negative association parkinson’s disease correlated with duration of action. However, the above studies did not completely exclude the confounding effects. Subsequent studies pointed out that propranolol was used as the symptomatic management of tremor in early undiagnosed cases, and a similar trend was shown in primidone, a non-β receptor medications treating tremor. After correction, both trends significantly weaken. The usage of β2-agonists was indicated in smoking-related pulmonary diseases, while smoking is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. An inverse relationship with Parkinson’s disease was also demonstrated in the diagnosis of COPD and other therapeutic drugs of COPD.

Conclusion: The relationship between β-adrenoreceptor medications and risk of Parkinson’s disease was controversial and not consistent after excluding confounding factors. Therefore, adjusting the usage of β-adrenoreceptor medications to avoid the risk of Parkinson’s disease regardless of the underlying disease is not recommended.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/beta-adrenoreceptor-medications-and-risk-of-parkinsons-disease/