CIDR: NGRC Parkinson's Disease Study

This is a gene-environment study of Parkinson's disease. PD is a common, progressive, age-related, movement disorder that affects 1-2% of the people over the age of 65. The NeuroGenetics Research Consortium (NGRC) is the infrastructure of the study. Protocols and methods are standardized across NGRC clinics and labs as much as possible. The 2000 patients and 2000 control subjects selected for this GWAS were recruited at the NGRC-affiliated movement disorder clinics in Oregon, Washington, Georgia and New York. All 4000 subjects were white and all DNA samples were extracted from whole blood and unamplified. Seventy-five percent of subjects have data on cigarette smoking and caffeinated coffee consumption, which are inversely associated with PD risk. This study population represents the norm for clinical genetic studies of PD; i.e., NGRC estimates of risk to relatives, heritability, genotype frequencies, and exposure frequencies (see references) are very close to estimates from meta-analyses.]]>
NGRC EEQ: Environmental Exposure Questionnaire CASE NGRC Enrollment Criteria Informed consent Diagnosis of PD by a neurologist using modified UK Brain Bank criteria (modified in that patients with a positive family history are not excluded) Genetically unrelated to all other patients and all controls Donate tissue for DNA extraction Fill out environmental exposure questionnaire, EEQ implemented in 2004 Additional GWAS Inclusion Criteria IRB/Institutional Certification for data sharing via dbGaP White only Exclude if diagnosis known to have changed after enrollment to not PD Known age at onset Age at blood draw ≥ 20 yrs Known self-reported gender Unamplified DNA from whole blood at concentration ≥ 50 ng/µl CONTROL NGRC Enrollment Criteria Informed consent No neurologic disorder at enrollment, by self report or exam, including Alzheimer's, Bipolar, Multiple Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Ataxia, Dystonia, Parkinson's, Autism, Dementia, Epilepsy, Stroke and Schizophrenia Genetically unrelated to all patients and all other controls Donate tissue for DNA extraction Fill out EEQ implemented in 2004 Additional GWAS Inclusion Criteria IRB/Institutional Certification for data sharing via dbGaP White only Exclude if known to have developed PD or essential tremor after enrollment Age at blood draw ≥ 20 yrs Known self-reported gender Unamplified DNA from whole blood at concentration ≥ 50 ng/µl ]]>
NeuroGenetics Research Consortium (NGRC) began as a genetic study of PD in Oregon in the 1990's and has since grown to include collaborations at several academic, federal and state institutions. The genetic arm of the study has been funded by NIH since 1998 (R01 NS36960, Haydeh Payami, PI). In 2004, the consortium was formalized as a Michael J Fox Foundation Funded Global Genetic Consortium, and an epidemiologic arm was implemented. NGRC includes eight movement disorder clinics in four states, led by Drs. Stewart Factor (Emory University), John Nutt (Oregon Health & Sciences University), Cyrus Zabetian (University of Washington and Puget Sound Veterans Medical Center), Eric Molho (Albany Medical College), and Donald Higgins (Albany Veterans Medical Center). NGRC's molecular and statistical genetics laboratories are at New York State Department of Health (Haydeh Payami) and Puget Sound Veterans Medical Center (Cyrus Zabetian).]]>