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PET imaging of neocortical monoaminergic terminals in Parkinson's disease

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Journal of Neural Transmission - Parkinson's Disease and Dementia Section

Summary

Post-mortem neurochemical studies in Parkinson's disease (PD) have shown that, in addition to the typical nigro-striatal dopamine denervation, there exists a concomitant neocortical monoamine fibre deafferentation (of variable severity) whose role in motor, and especially in associated cognitive and affective impairment, remains elusive. We have extensively examined whether PET imaging with11C-S-Nomifensine (11C-NMF), a radioligand of the dopamine and norepinephrine presynaptic reuptake sites which has been used so far to investigate the striatum, could provide a method for assessing in vivo the neocortical monoamine terminal loss in PD; previously, this has been a little addressed and controversial issue. To this end, we prospectively selected a highly homogeneous sample of nine non-demented, non-depressed idiopathic PD patients with mild to marked side-to-side asymmetry in motor impairment. In addition to recovering the previously-reported correlations withputaminal 11C-NMF specific uptake asymmetries, the clinical motor asymmetries also significantly correlated in the clinically expected direction toneocortical (especially frontal)11C-NMF asymmetries, suggesting the monoamine neocortical denervation might play a direct role in motor impairment in PD. These results demonstrate that it is possible to assess in vivo the neocortical monoamine terminal loss, and to elucidate its potential role in the complex cognitive and affective impairment, in both PD and atypical degenerative parkinsonism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CYCERON, University of Caen, Blvd. H. Becquerel, BP 5229, F-14074, Caen Cedex, France

    R. -M. Marié, L. Barré, P. Allain &  J. -C. Baron

  2. INSERM Unit 320, University of Caen, Blvd. H. Becquerel, BP 5229, F-14074, Caen Cedex, France

    R. -M. Marié, L. Barré, P. Rioux, P. Allain, B. Lechevalier &  J. -C. Baron

  3. Service de Neurologie Déjérine, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire, University of Caen, Blvd. H. Becquerel, BP 5229, F-14074, Caen Cedex, France

    R. -M. Marié & B. Lechevalier

  4. CEA DSV/DRIPP, University of Caen, Blvd. H. Becquerel, BP 5229, F-14074, Caen Cedex, France

    L. Barré & P. Allain

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  1. R. -M. Marié
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  2. L. Barré
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  4. P. Allain
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  6. J. -C. Baron
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Marié, R.M., Barré, L., Rioux, P. et al. PET imaging of neocortical monoaminergic terminals in Parkinson's disease. J Neural Transm Gen Sect 9, 55–71 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02252963

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02252963

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