OBJECTIVES

We investigated the association of thiazolidinedione and its dose effect with the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

METHODS

This study enrolled 38,521 patients with newly-diagnosed DM, between 2001 and 2013, and compared them to the matched subjects without DM. The hazard ratios (HRs) for PD were compared between the thiazolidinedione-treated and non-thiazolidinedione-treated groups of the study cohort, and between subgroups who received different cumulative dosages of thiazolidinedione.

RESULTS

We observed that 544 (1.4%) patients developed PD during the follow-up median duration of 6.2 years in patients with newly-diagnosed DM or had a higher risk for PD than patients without DM (HR = 1.150). In the study cohort, the risk of PD was significantly lower in the thiazolidinedione-treated group (HR = 0.399) compared to the non-thiazolidinedione-treated group. Thiazolidinedione reduced the risk of PD in a dose-dependent manner, with HRs ranging from 0.613 to 0.081 with defined daily doses of 0-90 to >720, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Thiazolidinedione use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of PD in patients with newly-diagnosed DM. Further studies to elucidate the common mechanism of PD and DM may provide novel therapies for these two diseases. Key messages Newly-diagnosed diabetes mellitus slightly increases the risk for Parkinson's disease. Thiazolidinedione is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease in a dose-dependent manner in patients with newly-diagnosed diabetes mellitus.