Caffeine Consumption Is Significantly Associated with a Reduced Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

by | Jul 30, 2024 | 2024, Brain Health, Caffeine, Parkinson's

Written by Chrystal Moulton, Science Writer. Researchers observed a significant inverse relationship between coffee consumption and Parkinson’s disease (P =0.003).

cup of coffeeSeveral studies have demonstrated a reduced the risk of Parkinson’s disease with increasing caffeine consumption1-3. However, whether caffeine consumption is a preventative measure against the development of Parkinson’s disease remains unclear. In the current research, researchers utilized the data from the European Perspective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort [EPIC]. This cohort consists of more than a half million participants across Europe who were followed for more than 20 years. Investigators utilized blood sample measurements and self-reported coffee consumption from individuals in the European Perspective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort [EPIC] to assess the relationship between caffeine consumption and the prospective risk of developing Parkinson’s disease4.

The EPIC cohort study is ongoing research exploring the relationship between nutrition and noncommunicable diseases5. Individuals aged 35 to 70 years old were recruited at baseline. The total number of participants in the EPIC study is 519,978 [366,521 women and 153,457 men]. In this sub-analysis, researchers included study centers with an available neurologist. This sub-analysis is known as EPIC4PD and consists of 192,980 participants from six countries. A total of 786 cases of Parkinson’s disease were identified as part of the EPIC4PD sub-analysis. Parkinson’s disease identified after recruitment were categorized as incident cases which totaled 639 individuals6. Individuals were excluded from this sub-analysis if individuals had conditions similar to Parkinson’s disease such as multiple system atrophy, essential tremor, progressive supranuclear palsy, etc.; if they had prevalent Parkinson’s disease or no date of diagnosis; if they had missing information on caffeine consumption and smoking at recruitment; and if they had extreme coffee consumption. The sub-analysis consisted of two parts: the EPIC4PD study, which examined the risk of Parkinson’s disease in association with coffee consumption and a nested case-control study, which examined metabolites and caffeine consumption with the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Researchers used only the incident cases (N = 639 individuals) for the nested case-control study. Individuals in the nested case-control study were matched with a control who had similar demographic characteristics. Lifestyle and dietary data were collected using questionnaires. Blood samples were collected from each individual and anthropometric measures were conducted according to standardized protocols. Researchers utilized samples from individuals in the nested case-control study to measure caffeine metabolite levels. Hazard ratio calculation was conducted on the EPIC4PD portion of the study along with the population preventable fraction, which assesses the proportion of Parkinson’s disease cases that could have been prevented within the population given any adjustment in coffee intake. Conditional logistical regression analysis was conducted on the nested case-control portion of this study. Researchers calculated the odds ratio between caffeine metabolites and Parkinson’s disease.

A total of 184,024 participants were included in the EPIC4PD cohort study. The prevalence of coffee consumption was 93% with individuals in the Netherlands at the highest volume prevalence of coffee consumption and individuals in Italy and Spain at the lowest. After applying exclusion criteria, 593 participants with Parkinson’s disease were included. Researchers found that individuals in the highest quartile of coffee consumption were usually younger men who were current smokers with a high intake of alcohol. 351 incident cases were incorporated into the nested case-control study with the subsequent 351 matched controls. In both the EPIC4PD cohort and the nested case-control study, coffee consumption, demographics, and lifestyle factors were comparable. Researchers observed a significant inverse relationship between coffee consumption and Parkinson’s disease (P =0.003). The population preventable fraction was 26% for coffee consumers versus non-consumers in the EPIC4PD study. This result, however, was limited only to caffeinated coffee consumers (P = 0.007). No association was observed for decaffeinated coffee consumption. In the nested case-control analysis, pre-diagnostic levels of caffeine (OR = 0.80, P < 0.05), paraxanthine (OR = 0.82, P < 0.05), theophylline (OR = 0.78, P < 0.05), and 1-methyluric acid (OR = 0.84, P < 0.05) were significantly associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease. Researchers also observed a more significant inverse relationship between caffeine (P = 0.02) and theophylline (P = 0.011) and the risk Parkinson’s disease in men than in women. Smoking status did not significantly affect the association between caffeine metabolites and the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

In all, the EPIC4PD and nested case-control study demonstrated that caffeine consumption was significantly associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease. Individuals with the highest consumption had a significantly lower risk compared to non-consumers. Researchers also identified specific caffeine metabolites that were associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease. Additional studies will be needed to verify these results.

Source: Zhao, Yujia, Yunjia Lai, Hilde Konijnenberg, José María Huerta, Ana Vinagre-Aragon, Jara Anna Sabin, Johnni Hansen et al. “Association of Coffee Consumption and Prediagnostic Caffeine Metabolites With Incident Parkinson Disease in a Population-Based Cohort.” Neurology 102, no. 8 (2024): e209201.

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology

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Posted July 30, 2024.

Chrystal Moulton BA, PMP, is a 2008 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology with a focus on premedical studies and is a licensed project manager. She currently resides in Indianapolis, IN.

References:

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