Parkinson Disease (PD) affects approximately one million Americans (Olanow et al. 1998). Considering peak incidence occurs between ages 55 and 66 (McDonald et al. 2003) and the U.S. population is aging, PD prevalence and ensuing societal costs are expected to rise. Deciphering the etiology of PD to improve its diagnosis, treatment, and prevention is a societal goal of utmost importance. As genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in the disease process, investigation into genetic susceptibility requires consideration for environmental modifiers. With a large collection of PD families, candidate genes of the nitric oxide synthesizing family will be examined with family-based association tests; associations between PD risk and environmental factors that demonstrate a biologically plausible link to the candidate genes will be assessed; and interactions between the genetic and environmental factors will then be analyzed. Since the most appropriate method for genetic and environmental association and interaction analyses with family- based data is not yet established, an empirical comparison of conditional logistic regression and generalized estimating equations will be performed to propose the most appropriate analytic tool in this context. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
1F31NS056632-01
Application #
7156673
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-HOP-S (03))
Program Officer
Refolo, Lorenzo
Project Start
2006-08-01
Project End
2009-07-31
Budget Start
2006-08-01
Budget End
2007-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$28,809
Indirect Cost
Name
Duke University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
044387793
City
Durham
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27705
Hancock, Dana B; Martin, Eden R; Vance, Jeffery M et al. (2008) Nitric oxide synthase genes and their interactions with environmental factors in Parkinson's disease. Neurogenetics 9:249-62
Hancock, Dana B; Martin, Eden R; Mayhew, Gregory M et al. (2008) Pesticide exposure and risk of Parkinson's disease: a family-based case-control study. BMC Neurol 8:6
Hancock, Dana B; Martin, Eden R; Li, Yi-Ju et al. (2007) Methods for interaction analyses using family-based case-control data: conditional logistic regression versus generalized estimating equations. Genet Epidemiol 31:883-93
Hancock, Dana B; Martin, Eden R; Stajich, Jeffrey M et al. (2007) Smoking, caffeine, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in families with Parkinson disease. Arch Neurol 64:576-80