GBA is located on chromosome 1 (1q21) and encodes for the lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GCase). GCase catalyzes the hydrolysis of glucocerebroside into glucose and ceramide. Mutations of
GBA are associated with Gaucher’s disease (GD), a recessive lysosomal storage disorder that is characterized from reduced GCase activity and accumulation of glucocerebroside in the liver, spleen and bone marrow. Interestingly, it has been observed that both homozygote and heterozygote carriers of
GBA mutations are at increased risk for developing PD. More specifically, the risk is significantly higher among those who are carriers of severe mutations compare to mild mutation carriers, with up to 10-fold and 2-3 fold increased risk for developing PD, respectively [
4].
GBA variants are classified into severe variants (such as L444P, W291X, H225Q and IVS2 + 1G > A) and mild variants (such as N370S). In addition, several nonpathogenic variants of
GBA in GD, such as E326K and T369M, have been found to increase the risk of PD. PD patients with severe variants of
GBA have a younger age of onset, faster progression and more severe cognitive impairment than those with mild variants.
GBA mutations are present in about 2–30% of PD patients and carrier frequency can be very different across different populations [
5].
RBD is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal motor behavior associated with dream mentation and loss of atonia during REM sleep [
3]. Scientific attention over RBD has increased due to its association with a- synucleinopathies. More specifically, there is accumulating evidence that the idiopathic/isolated form of RBD (IRBD) constitutes the prodromal stage of the a- synucleinopathies, as most of these cases are eventually diagnosed with PD or dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), with an estimated rate of conversion of 34% after five years from the IRBD diagnosis, 74% after ten and 91% after fourteen years. Additionally, postmortem neuropathological studies in subjects initially diagnosed with IRBD showed widespread LBs and neurites containing α-synuclein as their main component [
6]. RBD has been associated with
GBA mutations both in GD patients and in PD patients. Gan-Or et al. found that
GBA mutations carriers had an OR of 6.24 for RBD, and among PD patients, the OR for mutation carriers to have probable RBD (pRBD) was 3.13 [
7]. Jesus et al. also found a higher prevalence of RBD in both deleterious
GBA-carriers and benign
GBA-carriers [
8]. A “dose effect” of
GBA mutations on PD phenotype was also described by Thaler et al., with a more severe PD phenotype in patients with GD and PD (GD-PD) as compared to
GBA-related PD patients (GBA-PD) and iPD. These patients except for an earlier age of onset, more severe motor impairment, poorer cognition and lower olfactory scores had also a higher prevalence of RBD and higher frequencies of hallucinations compared to both GBA-PD and iPD [
9]. Additionally, a recent study, confirmed that non-motor symptoms and a more severe and rapidly progressive disease course are seen more frequently among
GBAPD patients in comparison to iPD. A higher occurrence of diurnal sleepiness was also observed in the carriers’ group [
10]. The fact that the severity of the
GBA mutation would correspond to the PD phenotype was also addressed in the study of Thaler et al. in 2018. A total of 355 PD patients were included in this study; 152 iPD patients, 139 mild GBA (mGBA) mutation carriers, 48 severe GBA (sGBA) mutation carriers and 16 patients with GD and PD (GD-PD). Both sGBA and GD-PD had higher frequencies of RBD and hallucinations compared to the other groups of patients. Motor, cognitive, olfactory and psychiatric symptoms were also more severe in sGBA and GD-PD compared to mGBA and iPD, thus the severity of the PD phenotype is associated with the severity of the mutation in the GBA gene [
11]. A recent meta-analysis study showed that PD patients with heterozygous
GBA variants are at high risk of developing RBD. PD patients with
GBA variants, like N370S and L444P, are at an even higher RBD risk than PD patients without these variants [
3,
12]. Moreover, in a recent study Perez-Lloret et al. found that
GBA_N370S_rs76763715 was associated with more frequent pRBD among PD patients. In addition, some
GBA variants, like rs2230288/E326K, rs75548401/T369M, and rs369068553/V460L, were also associated with more frequent non-motor symptoms, including RBD, as well as with a more aggressive motor disease [
13].