Periodic leg movements in patients with Parkinson's disease are associated with reduced striatal dopamine transporter binding.
We used single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to study striatal [(123)I]beta-CIT binding and polysomnography to study periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS) in eleven patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). The reduced striatal [(123)I]beta-CIT binding was significantly correlated with the number of PLMS. We propose that striatal dopaminergic nerve cell loss is involved in the increased number of PLMS in PD patients.
Happe
Svenja
S
Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Vienna, Austria. shappe@gwdg.de
Pirker
Walter
W
Klösch
Gerhard
G
Sauter
Cornelia
C
Zeitlhofer
Josef
J
D000368:Aged; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D020189:Nocturnal Myoclonus Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017286:Polysomnography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C069723:2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-iodophenyl)tropane; D003042:Cocaine