| Abstrakt: |
Objective: Although levodopa is the gold standard agent used in the symptomatic treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), it is discussed that it may adversely affect cognitive performance. In this study, it was aimed to examine the effects of levodopa use on the volumes of critical brain regions affected by Parkinson's disease and cognitive function. Methods: The study group was formed retrospectively from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data of PD patients who applied to Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University Training and Research Hospital Neurology Clinic. PH patients with cognitive dysfunction were divided into two groups those using levodopa (n=13) and those not using levodopa (n=11). Healthy individuals without any neurological findings constituted the control group (n=12). Volumes of total gray matter (TGM), accumbens, amygdala, nucleus caudatus, hippocampus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, and medial frontal cortex were analyzed with VolBrain. Results were correlated with the MMT and MOCA clinical scales. Results: While no correlation was found between the duration of PH and the volumes of brain regions, a significant correlation was found between the ages of the participants and the volumes of TGM, accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus (p<0.05). When the intergroup differences of these regions were analyzed with ANCOVA by fixing the age criterion, hippocampus volume was found to be significantly smaller in PD patients using levodopa compared to the control group (p=0.024). Thalamus volume was significantly smaller in PD patients using and not using levodopa compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The positive correlation between cognitive function tests and the medial frontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus regions strengthens the hypothesis that these regions are affected in PD patients with cognitive dysfunction. It also shows that levodopa treatment is associated with changes in hippocampus and thalamus volumes and may have an effect on cognitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
