Serum vitamins and heavy metals in blood and urine, and the correlations among them in parkinson's disease patients in China

Background: Some heavy metals are suspected to be pathogenic and some vitamins protective against Parkinson's disease (PD), and the interaction between heavy metals and vitamins could be associated with the pathophysiology of PD. Methods: Subjects comprised PD patients and sex-and age-matched controls recruited from an outpatient clinic in China. Morning blood and urine samples were used to measure concentrations of metals and vitamins. Results: The serum iron, whole-blood manganese, urine iron and copper levels were significantly higher in the PD patients than in the controls. The correlation coefficient between serum and urine concentrations of iron in the PD patients was significant. The serum vitamin E/urine copper ratio was significantly lower in the PD patients than in the controls. Serum vitamin E was negatively correlated with serum copper and was positively correlated with urine copper in the PD patients. Serum vitamin B₁₂ was positively correlated with serum zinc in the PD patients and was negatively correlated with urine zinc in the controls. Conclusions: Excessive intake of iron and copper, accumulation of manganese, vitamin E/copper imbalance in intake, and vitamin B₁₂ decrease by zinc deficiency in the body might be involved in the etiology of PD.