Defining a PD-specific Breath Fingerprint of Underlying Inflammatory and Neurodegenerative Processes

• Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Subscale II Score [ Time Frame: Up to 15 minutes ]
  The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Subscale II is a measure of self-evaluation of the activities of daily life (ADLs) including speech, swallowing, handwriting, dressing, hygiene, falling, salivating, turning in bed, walking, and cutting food. Items are rated from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe). A higher total score indicates more severe disease.
  
  
• Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Subscale III Score [ Time Frame: Up to 15 minutes ]
  The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Subscale III is a clinician-scored monitored motor evaluation. Items are rated from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe). A higher total score indicates more severe disease.
  
  
• Modified Hoehn and Yahr Scale Score [ Time Frame: Up to 15 minutes ]
  The Modified Hoehn and Yahr Scale is used to describe how the symptoms of Parkinson's disease progress. Stages of disease range from 1 to 5 where 5 is the most severe.
  
  
• Overnight Questionnaire Score [ Time Frame: Up to 15 minutes ]
  The Overnight Questionnaire is completed by a person living with the participant with Parkinson's Disease. Questions refer to behaviors witnessed during sleep. Questions are answered on a scale from 1 (never) to 4 (always). A higher score indicates more symptoms of sleep disruption.
  
  
• Beck's Depression Scale Score [ Time Frame: Up to 15 minutes ]
  The Beck's Depression Scale is a 21 one item scale used to describe how a participant has been feeling over the past two weeks. A total score between 0-21 indicates very low anxiety. A between 22-35 indicates moderate anxiety. A score that exceeds 36 indicates high anxiety.
  
  
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) Score [ Time Frame: Up to 10 minutes ]
  The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) is a rapid screening instrument for mild cognitive dysfunction. It assesses different cognitive domains: attention and concentration, executive functions, memory, language, visuoconstructional skills, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation. The total possible score is 30 points; a score of 26 or above is considered normal.
  
  

The purpose of this study is to determine the potential for a Parkinson's Disease (PD) -specific breath signature as a non-invasive screening tool for identifying PD patients with inflammation, tracking the progression of disease, and responsiveness to various therapeutic interventions, in particular anti-inflammatory or immunomodulatory therapies. Neurological disorders include any disorder involving the brain or the nervous system, for example memory disorders, stroke, movement disorders and many other conditions.

The study will lay the foundation for future studies in which breath fingerprinting could be used as a screening technique. Investigators will also be looking at how the breath fingerprint correlates with inflammatory proteins in the blood.

Investigators will determine how molecules in human breath can define a "breath signature" that can be associated with neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease. The long-term goal of this study is to use blood inflammatory marker relationships and Breath Analytical Approach to identify individuals at risk for development of neurologic disorders and to monitor the effects of immune interventions on the rate of disease progression.

The study team will recruit a total of 100 participants: 50 early stage (defined by a Hohn & Yahr Stages 1-2), non-smoking Parkinson's Disease patients from among the Emory Movement Disorders Clinic and 50 age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). Investigators will recruit six to eight participants per month over an 18-month time period.