Caffeine and Parkinson’s Disease: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Introduction: Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders, affecting 1% of the population older than 60 years. In search for a novel treatment and prevention of PD in the last two decades, research studies on both humans and mice have discovered the neuro protective effects of caffeine. These studies indicate an inverse relationship between the caffeine and PD which point towards the positive effects of moderate caffeine consumption on Parkinson’s  onset and symptoms. Objective: This article explores and analyzes data from the last two decades of published research  conducted on both humans and mice to understand the potential molecular mechanisms responsible for the neuro protcetive effects of caffeine , and how it improves motor and non motor deficits related to PD .Results: The neuro protective effects of caffeine have been  found to depend on  various factors, including  sex, caffeine metabolism rate, and smoking. For example , caffeine is beneficial in preventing and slowing down the progression of PD in all tested cohorts of men, but only in varying cohorts of women, owing to the competition between estrogen and caffeine for metabolism via CYP1A2. The cohort with the least positive outcome for caffeine was post-menopausal women who were actively taking hormone-replacement therapy (HRT). Similarly, variation in the rate of caffeine metabolism  from individual to individual and smoking induce  an increase in hepatic enzymes  affect  the caffeine out come in Parkinson disease (PD). Conclusion: Due to the complexity of biological mechanisms and the methodology of scientific research, it is difficult to fully elucidate the benefits of caffeine on PD development and progression despite  substantial evidence indicating a lower incidence of PD among caffeine users.