A Role of β2‑Adrenoreceptor Agonists Related to the Development of Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Background: Several studies have suggested the potential protective role of β2‑adrenoreceptor agonist (β2AR‑agonist) on the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, those could not reflect a different epidemiologic background in eastern countries. We explored β2AR‑agonist’s effect on PD development by controlling for smoking. Materials and Methods: We used the Korean national sample cohort data (from 2002 to 2013) containing 1,025,340 participants (2.2% of the whole population). The subjects over 60 years were included. PD was defined based on the ICD‑10 code, which should be diagnosed by neurologists. Atypical Parkinsonisms or ataxic disorders were excluded. We made Set 1 (from 2003 to 2007) and Set 2 (from 2003 to 2008) based on the exposure period for the sensitivity analysis. We observed whether PD had developed during the follow‑up periods in each subset. Results: The PD (Set 1, n = 742; Set 2, n = 699) and non‑PD group (Set 1, n = 57,645; Set 2, n = 66,586) were collected. Old age, Medicaid, and asthma were risk factors, whereas smoking was a significant protective factor for PD development. The proportion of β2AR‑agonist use was significantly higher in the PD group than in the non‑PD group (Set 1, 3.6% vs. 2.4%; Set 2, 4.1% vs. 2.6%). β2AR‑agonist use still was a risk factor in developing PD from the multiple logistic regression analysis. Conclusions: β2‑AR‑agonist looked like a risk factor rather than a protective factor for PD development. Well‑controlled studies reflecting various epidemiologic backgrounds are required to confirm the role of β2AR‑agonist.