Risk for Parkinson's disease: twin studies for the detection of asymptomatic subjects using [18F]6-fluorodopa PET.
Positron emission tomography (PET) studies were carried out with [18F]6-fluorodopa ([18F]6-FD) in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins for the clarification of dopaminergic function. Four MZ and four DZ pairs of twins, each pair consisting of a parkinsonian index case and an asymptomatic co-twin, were collected from the Nationwide Twin Cohort. The control group comprised 14 healthy volunteers. [18F]6-FD PET examinations with a Siemens/CTI 931/08 scanner were performed dynamically over 90 min. The regions-of-interest analysis included the caudate, the putamen and the occipital reference regions. Patlak plots were calculated using occipital tissue input function. The accumulation of [18F]6-FD in the putamen of the asymptomatic co-twins was significantly lower than that in the normal subjects. This result implies that there may be a preclinical stage of Parkinson's disease in the apparently normal co-twins at the time of the PET study.
Laihinen
A
A
Department of Neurology, University of Turku, Finland.
Ruottinen
H
H
Rinne
J O
JO
Haaparanta
M
M
Bergman
J
J
Solin
O
O
Koskenvuo
M
M
Marttila
R
R
Rinne
U K
UK
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
C043437:fluorodopa F 18; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine