Mitochondrial polymporphisms in Parkinson's Disease.

The mtDNA polymorphisms A4336G, A10398G and T4216C have been associated with PD. While A4336G is thought to be a genetic risk factor, A10398G appears to be a protective factor and T4216C is only weakly associated with the disease. In this work we analyzed the association between these three genetic polymorphisms and PD in a Spanish-PD population. The samples were classified by ethnic origin in Basques or other origin. Our analysis confirm the association between A4336G and PD. Our results with A10398G polymorphism highlight the importance of performing the association studies in ethnically homogeneous populations.