The study aims to observe changes in dopaminergic genes expression in peripheral tissue upon prolonged dopamine agonist treatment on patients with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). Similar studies in Parkinson's disease have shown changes in alpha-synuclein expression, which might offer insights into the dopaminergic gene regulation seen in RLS. The dopamine agonist drugs to be included in this study are: Pramipexole (Mirapex), Ropinirole (Requip), Rotigotine (Neupro), Apomorphine (Apokyn), Bromocriptine (Parlodel). Specifically, the study will collect nasal swabs of participants partitioned into two groups, those who have not used a dopamine agonist or been on a dopamine agonist for less than 1 month compared to those who have been on the medication for 6 or more months. This research could provide insight into changes in dopaminergic gene expression associated with Augmentation Syndrome (AS) which occurs after long term dopamine agonist treatment in RLS patients.
Able to provide Informed Consent
Clinical diagnosis of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)
On-going Treatment with a dopamine agonist
None
Diagnosed with RLS and on Dopamine Agonist treatments.
Cohort
Prospective
Not listed
To analyze the effect of duration of dopamine agonist treatments for changes in dopaminergic genes expression using nasal epithelial cells.
Gene expression will be measured and reported as the Fold change, which is the ratio of expression levels between the DRD2 experimental gene vs GAPDH housekeeping gene expression and reported as the Fold change which will indicate the magnitude of upregulation or downregulation of the DRD2 gene. A fold change \>= 2 will be used as the minimum baseline to indicate upregulation and a fold change \< = 1/2 will be used as the minimum baseline to indicate downregulation.
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