A distinct variant of mixed dysarthria reflects parkinsonism and dystonia due to ephedrone abuse

J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2014 Jun;121(6):655-64. doi: 10.1007/s00702-014-1158-6. Epub 2014 Jan 21.

Abstract

A distinctive alteration of speech has been reported in patients suffering from ephedrone-induced parkinsonism. However, an objective assessment of dysarthria has not been performed in ephedrone users. We studied 28 young Caucasian men from Georgia with a previous history of ephedrone abuse and compared them to 25 age-matched healthy controls. Speech examination, brain MRI, and NNIPPS-Parkinson plus scale were performed in all patients. The accurate differential diagnosis of dysarthria subtypes was based on the quantitative acoustic analyses of 15 speech dimensions. We revealed a distinct variant of mixed dysarthria with a combination of hyperkinetic and hypokinetic components representing the altered motor programming of dystonia and bradykinesia in ephedrone-induced parkinsonism. According to acoustic analyses, all patients presented at least one affected speech dimension, whereas dysarthria was moderate in 43% and severe in 36% of patients. Further findings indicated relationships between motor subscores of dystonia and bradykinesia and speech components of loudness (r = -0.54, p < 0.01), articulation (r = 0.40, p < 0.05), and timing (r = -0.53, p < 0.01). In ephedrone-induced parkinsonism a prominent mixed hyperkinetic-hypokinetic dysarthria occurs that appears related to marked dystonia and bradykinesia and probably reflects manganese induced toxic and neurodegenerative damage to the globus pallidus internus and substantia nigra.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustics
  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Antiparkinson Agents / therapeutic use
  • Dysarthria / etiology*
  • Dystonia / etiology*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Mental Status Schedule
  • Middle Aged
  • Parkinsonian Disorders / drug therapy
  • Parkinsonian Disorders / etiology*
  • Propiophenones / adverse effects*
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Substance-Related Disorders / complications*

Substances

  • Antiparkinson Agents
  • Propiophenones
  • monomethylpropion