Role of parkin mutations in 111 community-based patients with early-onset parkinsonism.

Early-onset parkinsonism is frequently reported in connection with mutations in the parkin gene. In this study, we present the results of extensive genetic screening for parkin mutations in 111 community-derived early-onset parkinsonism patients (age of onset <50 years) from Germany with an overall mutation rate of 9.0%. Gene dosage alterations represented 67% of the mutations found, underlining the importance of quantitative analyses of parkin. In summary, parkin mutations accounted for a low but significant percentage of early-onset parkinsonism patients in a community-derived sample.