title: Striatal dopamine transporter binding correlates with serum BDNF levels in patients with striatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration.
abstract: Compelling evidence has shown, that neurotrophins responsible for the regulation of neuronal growth, survival, and differentiation are involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Whereas lower serum levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been observed in patients with Parkinson's disease, no studies have directly related the degree of striatal neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons (DA) with serum BDNF levels. In this study we examined the relationship between striatal neurodegeneration as determined with (123)I-PE2I-single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT) and serum BDNF levels in patients with parkinsonism. Twenty-one patients with abnormal in vivo striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) binding as evidenced with [(123)I]PE2I SPECT brain scanning were included. Samples for serum BDNF levels were collected at the time of the SPECT scanning, and BDNF was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The striatal binding potential of non-displaceable [(123)I]PE2I was calculated. We found a positive correlation between serum BDNF levels and striatal DAT availability (p < 0.01, R(2) = 0.36). We find that in patients with striatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration serum BDNF levels decrease along with loss in striatal DAT binding.
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Research Unit and Cimbi, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ziebell
authors.forename: Usman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.forename: Anders B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aznar
authors.forename: Gerda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Gitte M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Knudsen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D004298:Dopamine