Do Dermatoses Trigger Neurodegenerative Diseases? A Retrospective Observational Study

Abstract

Background and Objective: Neurological diseases, in addition to their systemic effects, may also lead to various dermatological manifestations. In this study, the distribution of dermatological findings in patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was examined, and intergroup differences were evaluated. Methods: This retrospective study included a total of 848 patients who were followed in the neurology outpatient clinic and underwent dermatological evaluation. Patients were categorized into PD (n=347), MS (n=401), and ALS (n=100) groups. The presence of 21 dermatological findings was assessed in each patient, and the data were analyzed using the Jamovi statistical software. Chi-square test was used for intergroup comparisons, and McNemar’s test was used for pairwise comparisons. Results: The most frequently observed dermatological findings were fungal infections (11.9%), xerosis (11.0%), eczematous dermatitis (8.6%), and seborrheic dermatitis (4.7%). High-prevalence findings such as fungal infections, xerosis, eczematous dermatitis, and seborrheic dermatitis were significantly more common compared to lower-prevalence findings (p<0.001). Additionally, xerosis was found to be more frequent in Parkinson’s patients (p=0.001). Conclusion: The frequent observation of fungal infections in these patient groups is notable, especially in light of recent studies suggesting that fungal infections may trigger neurodegenerative diseases. Besides fungal infections, the presence of other skin findings highlights the necessity of including dermatological evaluations in the follow-up of these patient groups. Although fungal infections were more frequently observed in patients with neurodegenerative diseases—particularly Parkinson’s disease—this difference did not reach statistical significance. However, the trend observed aligns with growing evidence linking fungal organisms to neuroinflammatory mechanisms

Keywords

• PD
• MS
• ALS
• Fungal infection

Dermatozlar Nörodejeneratif Hastalıkları Tetikler mi?: Retrospektif Gözlemsel Çalışma

Abstract

Arka Plan ve Amaç: Nörolojik hastalıklar sistemik etkilerinin yanı sıra ciltte çeşitli dermatolojik bulgulara da neden olabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, Parkinson hastalığı (PD), Multipl Skleroz (MS) ve Amiyotrofik Lateral Skleroz (ALS) tanılı hastalarda dermatolojik bulguların dağılımı incelenmiş ve gruplar arası farklılıklar değerlendirilmiştir. Yöntemler: Bu retrospektif çalışmaya, nöroloji polikliniğinde takip edilen ve dermatolojik değerlendirmesi yapılan toplam 848 hasta dahil edilmiştir. Hastalar PD (n=347), MS (n=401) ve ALS (n=100) gruplarına ayrılmıştır. Her hastada 21 dermatolojik bulgunun varlığı incelenmiş ve veriler Jamovi istatistik programı ile analiz edilmiştir. Gruplar arası karşılaştırmalarda ki-kare testi, ikili karşılaştırmalarda McNemar testi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: En sık gözlenen dermatolojik bulgular mantar enfeksiyonu (%11.9), kseroz (%11.0), egzematöz dermatit (%8.6) ve seboreik dermatit (%4.7) olarak tespit edilmiştir. Mantar enfeksiyonları, kseroz egzematöz dermatit ve seboreik dermatit gibi yüksek prevalanslı bulgular, diğer düşük prevalanslı bulgularla karşılaştırıldığında anlamlı olarak daha sık izlenmiştir (p<0.001). Ayrıca kserozun Parkinson hastalarında daha sık görüldüğü belirlenmiştir (p=0.001). Sonuç: Mantar enfeksiyonlarının bu hasta gruplarında sık gözlemlenmesi ve son yıllarda yapılan çalışmalarda mantar enfeksiyonlarının nörodejeneratif hastalıkları tetikleyebileceğine dair izlenimler dolayısıyla önemlidir. Mantar dışında diğer cilt bulgularının da varlığı bu hasta gruplarının takibinde dermatolojinin de bulunmasının gerekliliğini vurgular.

Keywords

• PD
• MS
• ALS
• Mantar enfeksiyonu.

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