Increased Alzheimer pathology in Parkinson's disease related to antimuscarinic drugs

The hypothesis that blockade of muscarinic receptors is associated with increased Alzheimer-type pathology was investigated in Parkinson's disease. Amyloid plaque densities were more than 2.5-fold higher in cases treated with antimuscarinic medication in the long term compared with untreated or short-term treated cases (p = 0.005 and 0.00005, respectively). Neurofibrillary tangle densities were also highest in chronic compared with untreated or acute-treated groups (p = 0.02 and 0.05, respectively). The findings, if replicated, have potential implications for the use of anticholinergic medication in elderly Parkinson's disease patients.