INFLUENCE OF CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), in addition to typical motor dysfunction, also suffer from a wide spectrum of cognitive abnormalities, especially executive dysfunction, even in the early stages of the disease. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that modest increases in cardiovascular fitness in sedentary healthy elderly reduce aging-related decline in executive functions, possibly by improving plasticity of the brain, mediated by the increase in trophic factors such as IGF-1. Animal models and epidemiologic studies suggest that aerobic exercise may have a neuroprotective effect on PD. However, there is very limited experimental information in patients with PD on the effect of aerobic exercise programs or aerobic endurance status on motor and cognitive aspects of disease. These investigators will conduct a cross-sectional study on the effect of cardiovascular fitness on executive and motor functions in PD. They will assess the fitness level by aerobic endurance capacity assessment on a cycle ergometer in 20 mild-moderate (Hoehn-Yahr stages I-III) PD patients aged 55-75 who are living independently and can ambulate without assistance. They will separate the group into low-fit and high-fit by a median split on their maximal oxygen uptake (VO2) during the cycle ergometer exercise test. They will compare the performance of the low- and high-fit PD groups on executive, other cognitive and motor function tests adjusting for age, gender and disease duration. Correlational analyses between aerobic fitness level (VO2) and executive and motor functions will also be performed. A subgroup (n=10) will also undergo functional and morphometric brain MRI studies, and levels of CRP, IL-6, and IGF-1 (indicators of inflammation and trophic response). The MRI part of the study will be performed to establish these methods at the UIHC in patients with PD, realizing that this small sample may be enough to show any significant correlations or group differences.