Patient-Control Association Study of the Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) Gene in South African Parkinson's Disease Patients

Abstract

The leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene is of interest to Parkinson's disease (PD) as it has been implicated in both familial and sporadic forms of the disorder.1 PD-susceptibility alleles in LRRK2 appear to be ethnic-specific with G2385R,2 R1628P3 and A419V4 identified in Asian populations, whereas M1646T is found in Caucasians.4 A haplotype protecting against development of PD is present in Chinese (N551K-R1398H)5 and Caucasians (N551K-R1398H-K1423K).4 Further studies are necessary to investigate the contribution of LRRK2 to PD-susceptibility in various populations worldwide.