title: Cutaneous autonomic denervation in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Numerous studies have detailed involvement of the peripheral autonomic nervous system (PANS) in Parkinson's disease (PD). We assessed autonomic innervation of dermal annexes through quantitative fluorescence measurement from skin obtained via punch biopsies at distal leg region in PD and control subjects. We defined a ratio between the area corresponding to protein gen product (PGP) immunoreactivity and the area corresponding to blood vessel or sweat gland as a quantitative measure of autonomic innervation. Presence of alpha-synuclein (AS) deposits in dermis and hypodermis was also assessed by immunohistochemistry. Skin biopsies form six PD patients and six healthy controls were studied. Autonomic innervation scores were lower in PD than in controls in both blood vessels and sweat glands. No AS or phosphorylated AS (pAS) immunoreactivity was detected in dermis or hypodermis in any of the studied subjects. The results of this investigation suggest that autonomic innervation of dermal annexes in living patients with PD is reduced compared to controls. AS or pAS deposits were not found in dermis or hypodermis suggesting that distal leg skin study is not useful for in vivo detection of AS in PD.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Unit, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED, Barcelona, Spain), Institut Clínic de Neurociències, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, University of Barcelona, c/Villarroel 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Navarro-Otano
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casanova-Mollà
authors.forename: Merche
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Valls-Solé
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tolosa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000294:innervation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply / Q000294:innervation / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D013545:Sweat Glands / Q000294:innervation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051844:alpha-Synuclein