LRRK2 G2019S as a Cause of Parkinson's Disease in North African Arabs

Abstract

To the Editor: Parkinson's disease is characterized by resting tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, a good response to levodopa, and the presence of Lewy bodies. The recently identified G2019S mutation in exon 41 of the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 gene (LRRK2) accounts for 2 to 6 percent of familial and 1 to 2 percent of sporadic cases.1 The mutation is less common in Asian populations1 but prevalent in patients from North Africa who have Parkinson's disease, as we describe here. We obtained blood samples from 104 unrelated index . . .