A Pilot Study on Presence of Parkinson’s Disease Risk Gene PARK7 in Population of West Bengal, India: A Preliminary Observation

Introduction: The neurodegenerative Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is associated with different risk genes along with some environmental factors. Till date, there are few identified genes which play a pivotal role in the early onset of PD among the general population.

Aim: To screen the presence of different risk genes of Parkinson’s disease along with associated environmental factors among randomly selected 62 urban participants.

Materials and Methods: The present randomised control trial single blind pilot study was conducted in the Department of Biotechnology, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, from March 2021 to June 2021. The study participants were informed about the study and blood was collected from them. The genomic Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) extraction was carried out following phenol chloroform extraction protocol and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was done with specific primers of the risk genes namely, Parkinson Disease 1 (PARK1) Alpha-synuclein (α-synuclein), Parkinson Disease 2 (PARK2) (Parkin), Parkinson Disease Protein 7 (PARK7) or DJ -1 and PINK 1. Protein Deglycase-1 (DJ-1) and PTEN Induced Kinase 1 (PINK1). The statistical analysis of the findings was done using Statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0.

Results: Out of 62 particpants, 47 were males and 15 were females and the age distribution of the participants was in between 21 years to >60 years. After obtaining specific band in agarose gel electrophoresis, 35 positive cases of PARK7 gene and 1 positive case of PARK2 gene were identified.

Conclusion: There was a statistically significant association of different bacterial and viral infections with the PARK7 gene positive cases. PARK7 gene responsible for early onset of PD is significantly prevalent in the general population of West Bengal.