Upper Gastrointestinal Mucosal Damage and Subsequent Risk of Parkinson Disease.

IMPORTANCE: The gut-first hypothesis of Parkinson disease (PD) has gained traction, yet potential inciting events triggering Parkinson pathology from gut-related factors remain unclear. While Helicobacter pylori infection is linked to mucosal damage (MD) and PD, it is unknown how upper gastrointestinal MD from any source increases PD risk.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate any association between upper endoscopy findings of MD and subsequent clinical PD diagnosis.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with no PD history undergoing upper endoscopy with biopsy between January 2000 and December 2005, with final follow-up assessments completed July 31, 2023. The study was conducted within the Mass General Brigham system, a multicenter network in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Patients with MD were matched 1:3 to patients without MD based on age, sex, and date of initial endoscopy.

EXPOSURE: MD, defined as erosions, esophagitis, ulcers, or peptic injury, observed on upper endoscopy or pathology reports.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The relative risk of PD given a history of MD, estimated using incident rate ratio (IRR) and multivariate Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs).

RESULTS: Of 9350 patients, participants had a mean (SD) age of 52.3 (20.3) years; 5177 (55.4%) were male; and 269 (2.9%) were Asian, 737 (7.9%) Black, and 6888 (73.7%) White. Most participants underwent endoscopy between the ages of 50 and 64 years (2842 [30.4%]). At baseline, patients with MD were more likely to have a history of H pylori infection, proton-pump inhibitor use, chronic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, gastroesophageal reflux disease, smoking, constipation, and dysphagia. The mean (SD) follow-up time was 14.9 (6.9) years for the whole cohort, during which patients with MD were more likely to develop PD (IRR, 4.15; 95% CI, 2.89-5.97; P < .001) than those without MD, even after covariate adjustment (HR, 1.76; 95% CI 1.11-2.51; P = .01). Constipation, dysphagia, older age, and higher Charlson-Deyo Comorbidity Index were also associated with higher PD risk.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cohort study, a history of upper gastrointestinal MD was associated with elevated risk of developing a clinical PD diagnosis. Increased vigilance among patients with MD for future PD risk may be warranted.