Monoamine oxidase inhibition decreases endogenous production of the toxic dopamine metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DOPAL)

Aim: To reveal the prevalence of chilblain in PD, we carried out a questionnaire survey in PD patients. Methods: Chilblain and other autonomic symptoms were evaluated using a questionnaire in 104 PD patients (48 men and 56 women; age 68 ± 9.2 years; disease duration 7.8 ± 5.6 years) and 50 disease controls (21 men and 29 women; age 66 ± 13 years; disease duration 1.7 ± 2.0 years), including 16 Alzheimer disease, 17 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 17 myasthenia gravis. Results: 15 PD patients (14.4%) and 2 disease controls (4%) had chilblain, and its prevalence was significantly higher in PD patients than the disease controls (p b 0.04). Chilblain did not show significant correlation with age, sex, BMI or disease duration. There were significant correlations between chilblain and other skin vasomotor symptoms in the PD group, while chilblain had no significant correlations with cardiovascular, sudomotor, gastrointestinal or urinary symptoms. Conclusions: The prevalence of chilblain was higher in our PD patients compared with the disease controls, and the occurrence of chilblain may be related with skin vasomotor dysfunction in PD.