The antibodies against Bordetella pertussis in sera of patients with Parkinson’s disease and other non-neurological diseases Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of movement of unknown aetiology. Most recent hypotheses suggest that a gene defect and exposure to an environmental toxin are both necessary to induce PD. Factors that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of PD include oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dys- function, cumulation of abnormal proteins and inflammation. An involvement of immunological responses in dopaminergic regions in PD has been frequently reported (1–5). Some researchers sup- pose that this is an inflammatory neurological reaction with an unclear initiating factor. Identify- ing such a factor is important, as it would allow a method of preventing PD. An infectious cause for PD has been considered for many years. De Pedro-Cuesta et al. (6–7) repor- ted high levodopa use and prevalence of PD in periodically time-clustered, Icelandic cohorts born after a major whooping cough epidemic. This high prevalence might in turn be associated with age at exposure to whooping cough or as yet unknown simultaneously present agents. They suggest that pertussis neurotoxicity could be causally related to PD worldwide. Whooping cough continues to be an infectious disease of major consequence worldwide. Several pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed to account for central nervous system abnormalities that accompany pertussis (8). The manner and moment in which the toxins produced by Bordetella pertussis could have influenced the dopaminergic cells is unknown (9). Our preliminary research regarded the occur- rence of antibodies against B. pertussis in PD patients (10). The aim of this study was the examination of separate responses against antigens of B. pertussis in serum in persons with PD, patients with other non-inflammatory neurological diseases (OND) and controls. The total humoral response has Acta Neurol Scand 2004: 110: 113–117 DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2004.00285.x Printed in UK. All rights reserved Copyright Ó Blackwell Munksgaard 2004 ACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA Fiszer U, Tomik B, Grzesiowski P, Krygowska-Wajs A, Walory J, Michalowska M, Palasik W. The antibodies against Bordetella pertussis in sera of patients with Parkinson’s disease and other non-neurological diseases. Acta Neurol Scand 2004: 110: 113–117. Ó Blackwell Munksgaard 2004. Objectives – It has been reported that the prevalance of parkinsonism might be associated with exposure to whooping cough. Methods – Examination of levels of antibodies against Bordetella pertussis in serum using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests [presence of IgG antibodies against filamentous hemagglutinin and pertussis toxin (PT)] were performed in 81 persons (including 45 patients with controls) (age-matched groups). Results – Positive results were found in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), patients with other non-inflammatory diseases, and controls (about 40–45% in each group). A detailed examination of separate responses (IgG and IgA antibodies against PT, and a whole cell immune response) and of the serum level of immunoglobulins IgG, IgA and IgM was also performed. Conclusion – Our results demonstrate numerous cases of whooping cough serum antibodies among the adult population (also among PD patients). The results of our research, i.e. a common occurrence of Bordetella pertussis infection do not provide evidence of relationship between PD and the above-mentioned infection. U. Fiszer 1 , B. Tomik 1 , P. Grzesiowski 2 , A. Krygowska-Wajs 3 , J. Walory 2 , M. Michalowska 1 , W. Palasik 1 1 Department of Neurology and Epileptology, Medical Center for Postgraduate Education, Warsaw; 2 National Institute of Public Health, Warsaw; 3 Department of Neurology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland Key words: Parkinson's disease; pertussis; whooping cough Urszula Fiszer, Department of Neurology and Epileptology, Medical Center for Postgraduate Education, Czerniakowska str. 231, 00-416 Warsaw, Poland. Tel.: 48 (22) 629 43 49; Fax: 48 (22) 625 10 14; e-mail: fiszeru@cmkp.edu.pl Accepted for publication January 26, 2004 113