The Cys282Tyr polymorphism in the HFE gene in Australian Parkinson's disease patients

Iron homeostasis is altered in Parkinson's disease (PD). The HFE protein is an important regulator of cellular iron homeostasis and variations within this gene can result in iron overload and the disorder known as hereditary haemochromatosis. We studied the Cys282Tyr single nucleotide polymorphism as a genetic risk factor for PD in two distinct and separately collected cohorts of Australian PD patients and controls. In the combined cohort comprising 438 PD patients and 485 control subjects, we revealed an odds ratio for possession of the 282Tyr allele of 0.61 (95% confidence interval, CI=0.42–0.90, P=0.011) from univariate chi-squared and 0.59 (95% CI=0.39–0.90, P=0.014) after logistic regression analyses (correcting for potential confounding factors). These results suggest that possession of the 282Tyr allele may offer some protection against the development of PD.