Chronic caffeine intake may affect brain chemistry in Parkinson's disease

A new international study led by the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland has found that regular heavy caffeine intake affects dopamine function in people with Parkinson's disease. Consuming caffeine before undergoing brain dopamine imaging may also affect the imaging results.

Previous studies have shown that regular caffeine consumption may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, but there is limited research on caffeine's effect on disease progression in people already diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

A follow-up study led by the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital (Tyks) in Finland looked at how caffeine intake affects brain dopamine function over the long term in patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Brain dopamine function was assessed with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which measures dopamine transporter (DAT) binding.

“An association between high caffeine intake and a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease has been observed in epidemiological studies. However, ours is the first to focus on the impact of caffeine on disease progression and symptoms in relation to dopamine function in Parkinson's disease,” says Valtteri Karsinen, professor of neurology at the University of Turku and lead researcher of the study.

Caffeine intake had no effect on Parkinson's symptoms

The clinical study compared 163 patients in the early stages of Parkinson's disease with 40 healthy controls. Examinations and imaging were performed twice on a subsample, with an average interval of 6 years between the first and second imaging sessions. Changes in brain dopamine transporter binding were compared with the patients' caffeine intake, which was assessed by a validated questionnaire and by measuring the concentrations of caffeine and its metabolites in blood samples.

Findings revealed that patients with high caffeine intake had an 8.3-15.4% greater reduction in dopamine transporter binding compared to patients with low caffeine intake. However, the observed reduction in dopamine function is unlikely to be due to a greater reduction in dopamine neurons after caffeine intake, but rather is more likely a downregulation compensatory mechanism in the brain that has also been observed in healthy individuals after the use of caffeine and other stimulants.

“Although caffeine may have some effect in reducing the risk of Parkinson's disease, our study found that high doses of caffeine have no effect on the dopamine system in patients already diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. High doses of caffeine did not lead to any reduction in symptoms of the disease, such as improved motor function.”

Valtteri Karsinen, Professor of Neurology, University of Turku

Another important finding of this study was the observation that consuming caffeine, for example the morning of an imaging session, temporarily increases a person's DAT binding levels. This may complicate the interpretation of brain DAT imaging results, which are commonly used clinically. The study findings suggest that patients should abstain from coffee and caffeine intake for 24 hours before undergoing diagnostic DAT imaging.

The results of the study are: Annals of Neurology Diary for May 20, 2024: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ana.26957

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Journal References:

Saarinen, E.K. other. (2024) Dietary caffeine and brain dopamine function in Parkinson's disease Annals of Neurology. translation:.

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