Underestimated olfactory domains in Huntington's disease: odour discrimination and threshold

Abstract

Background: Olfaction has recently found clinical value in prediction, discrimination and prognosis of some neurodegenerative disorders. However, data originating from standard tests on olfactory dysfunction in Huntington's disease are limited to odour identification, which is only one domain of olfactory perceptual space.

Method: Twenty-five patients and 25 age- and gender-matched controls were evaluated by the Sniffin' Sticks test in three domains of odour threshold, odour discrimination, odour identification and the sum score of them. Patients' motor function was assessed based on the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale.

Results: Compared with controls, patients' scores of all olfactory domains and their sum were significantly lower. Besides, our patients' odour threshold and odour discrimination impairments were more frequently impaired than odour identification impairment (86 per cent and 81 per cent vs 34 per cent, respectively).

Conclusion: Olfactory impairment is a common finding in patients with Huntington's disease; it is not limited to odour identification but is more pronounced in odour discrimination and odour threshold.

Keywords: Huntington's disease; neurodegenerative diseases; olfaction disorders; smell.