title: Clinical and pathological features in hydrocarbon-induced parkinsonism.
abstract: A neuropathological examination was performed on a patient with parkinsonism induced by prolonged exposure to a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons, mainly n-hexane and halogenated compounds. The patient developed a rapid-course disease that progressed even after withdrawal from the toxic exposure. Pathological examination and immunohistochemical analysis of the brain revealed severe and widespread dopaminergic neuronal loss, associated with severe gliosis, in the substantia nigra, and almost complete loss of tyrosine hydroxylase immunostaining in the striatum. No Lewy bodies were detected. Neuronal loss was also observed in the periaqueductal gray matter, locus ceruleus, and pedunculopontine nucleus. These changes, combined with the moderate anemia due to marrow suppression, and the mild axonal neuropathy observed in vivo, are suggestive of a hydrocarbon toxic insult.
authors.affiliation: Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico IRCCS, Istituto di Neurologia, Università di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pezzoli
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Strada
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Silani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zecchinelli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Perbellini
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Javoy-Agid
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghidoni
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Motti
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scarlato
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Agid
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Hirsch
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005911:Gliosis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010302:Parkinson Disease, Secondary / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology*; D011149:Pons / Q000473:pathology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons