Prevalence of homozygous deletions of the parkin gene in a cohort of patients with sporadic and familial Parkinson's disease

Mutation of the parkin gene is a cause of familial Parkinson's disease of t he autosomal recessive form; however, its significance in all Parkinson's d isease cases is unclear. Deletions in the parkin gene were found in only 2. 2% of 184 Japanese patients with Parkinsons disease. However, deletions wer e present in 25.0% and 40.0% of the patients with juvenile-onset (< 40 y) a nd with familiality, respectively. On the other hand, deletions were not fo und in any adult-onset cases (> 40 y). Half of the patients with parkin gen e-related Parkinson's disease lacked both heredity and consanguinity.