Cancer and blood concentrations of the comutagen harmane in essential tremor

Articles:

Title:: Cancer and blood concentrations of the comutagen harmane in essential tremor
Author(s):: Louis, Elan D.
Pellegrino, Kathryn M.
Factor-Litvak, Pam
Jiang, Wendy
Rios, Eileen
Henchcliffe, Claire
Zheng, Wei
Date:: 2008
Type:: Articles
Department:: Center for Parkinson's Disease and Other Movement Disorders
Volume:: 23
Permanent URL:: http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:9913
Book/Journal Title:: Movement disorders
Abstract:: Blood concentrations of harmane, a tremor-producing neurotoxin, are elevated in essential tremor (ET). Harmane is also a comutagen. Using a case-control design, we compared the prevalence of cancer in ET cases vs. controls, and determined whether blood harmane concentrations are elevated among ET cases with cancer. 66/267 (24.7%) ET cases vs. 55/331 (16.6%) controls had cancer (adjusted OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.01â€“2.30, P = 0.04). Among specific cancer types, colon cancer was more prevalent in ET cases than controls (2.6% vs. 0.6%, P = 0.04). Log blood harmane concentration was higher in ET cases vs. controls (P = 0.02) and in participants with vs. without cancer (P = 0.02). Log blood harmane concentration was highest in ET cases with cancer when compared with other groups (P = 0.009). These links between cancer and ET and between high blood harmane and cancer in ET deserve further study.
Subject(s):: Neurosciences
DOI:: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mds.22084