Calcium channel blocker use and risk of Parkinson's disease: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSES: Whether calcium channel blocker (CCB) use contributes to a low risk of developing a first time diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between CCB use and PD risk.

METHODS

Pubmed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WanFang databases were searched for papers through May 2014. Studies investigating the association between CCB use and the risk of first time diagnosis of PD were included. Pooled adjusted risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a fixed-effect model.

RESULTS

Five studies involving 208 248 CCB users were identified. Overall, CCB use was associated with a reduction in PD risk (RR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.68-0.84) compared with the controls. Subgroup analysis showed that dihydropyridine CCB use reduced by 27% PD risk (RR = 0.73, 95%CI = 0.64-0.83) and non-dihydropyridine CCB use reduced by 30% PD risk (RR = 0.70, 95%CI = 0.50-0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, CCB use as a class is associated with a reduction in PD risk. Both of dihydropyridine and non-dihydropyridine CCB use appear to reduce the risk of developing a first time diagnosis of PD. More well-designed prospective studies are needed to investigate the difference of the subtype of CCB user on PD risk.