title: Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor density in cognitively intact subjects at an early stage of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: We investigated in vivo brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) distribution in cognitively intact subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) at an early stage of the disease. Fourteen patients and 13 healthy subjects were imaged with single photon emission computed tomography and the radiotracer 5-[(123)I]iodo-3-[2(S)-2-azetidinylmethoxy]pyridine ([(123)I]5IA). Patients were selected according to several criteria, including short duration of motor signs (<7 years) and normal scores at an extensive neuropsychological evaluation. In PD patients, nAChR density was significantly higher in the putamen, the insular cortex and the supplementary motor area and lower in the caudate nucleus, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the middle temporal gyrus. Disease duration positively correlated with nAChR density in the putamen ipsilateral (ρ = 0.56, p < 0.05) but not contralateral (ρ = 0.49, p = 0.07) to the clinically most affected hemibody. We observed, for the first time in vivo, higher nAChR density in brain regions of the motor and limbic basal ganglia circuits of subjects with PD. Our findings support the notion of an up-regulated cholinergic activity at the striatal and possibly cortical level in cognitively intact PD patients at an early stage of disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Ioannis Ugo
authors.initials: IU
authors.lastname: Isaias
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University , Homburg/Saar , Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spiegel
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brumberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine , New Haven, CT , USA.
authors.forename: Kelly P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Cosgrove
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico , Milan , Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marotta
authors.affiliation: Human Brain Research Center, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine , Kyoto , Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Küsters
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schiller
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University , Homburg/Saar , Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dillmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine , New Haven, CT , USA.
authors.forename: Christopher H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: van Dyck
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buck
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schloegl
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Volkmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lassmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University , Homburg/Saar , Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fassbender
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg , Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Samnick
keywords: 5IA-SPECT; Parkinson disease; cognitive decline; dopamine acetylcholine; nicotinic receptors