Parkinsonism Associated with Glucocerebrosidase Mutation

BACKGROUND: Gaucher's disease is an autosomal recessive, lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations of the β-glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA). There is increasing evidence that GBA mutations are a genetic risk factor for the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). We report herein a family of Koreans exhibiting parkinsonism-associated GBA mutations. CASE REPORT: A 44-year-old woman suffering from slowness and paresthesia of the left arm for the previous 1.5years, visited our hospital to manage known invasive ductal carcinoma. During a preoperative evaluation, she was diagnosed with Gaucher's disease and double mutations of S271G and R359X in GBA. Parkinsonian features including low amplitude postural tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia and shuffling gait were observed. Genetic analysis also revealed that her older sister, who had also been diagnosed with PD and had been taking dopaminergic drugs for 8-years, also possessed a heterozygote R359X mutation in GBA. (18)F-fluoropropylcarbomethoxyiodophenylnortropane positron-emission tomography in these patients revealed decreased uptake of dopamine transporter in the posterior portion of the bilateral putamen. CONCLUSIONS: This case study demonstrates Korean familial cases of PD with heterozygote mutation of GBA, further supporting the association between PD and GBA mutation.