Fischer DL, et al. - Using data collected in the Deprenyl And Tocopherol Antioxidative Therapy Of Parkinsonism (DATATOP) study, the researchers performed a retrospective analysis exploring whether the single nucleotide variant rs6265 in the gene Bdnf alters clinical phenotype in early-stage, unmedicated Parkinson's disease (PD). They used the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) for validation. Findings revealed that the primary endpoint of time to initiate levodopa was linked with a delay in subjects with two copies of the rs6265 minor (Met66) allele and secondary endpoints were not different among genotypes. The results obtained from the study indicate that carrying two copies of the rs6265 Met66 allele (∼4% of the population) was correlated with less severity in motor symptoms and potentially a slower rate of progression.