title: Position Emission Tomography/Single-Photon Emission Tomography Neuroimaging for Detection of Premotor Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: Premotor Parkinson's disease (PD) refers to a prodromal stage of Parkinson's disease (PD) during which nonmotor clinical features may be present. Currently, it is difficult to make an early diagnosis for premotor PD. Molecular imaging with position emission tomography (PET) or single-photon emission tomography (SPECT) offers a wide variety of tools for overcoming this difficulty. Indeed, molecular imaging techniques may play a crucial role in diagnosing, monitoring and evaluating the individuals with the risk for PD. For example, dopaminergic dysfunctions can be identified by detecting the expression of vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) to evaluate the conditions of dopaminergic terminals functions in high-risk individuals of PD. This detection provides a sensitive and specific measurement of nonmotor symptoms (NMS) such as olfactory dysfunction, sleep disorders, and psychiatric symptoms in the high-risk patients, especially at the premotor phase. Molecular imaging technique is capable of detecting the dysfunction of serotonergic, noradrenergic, and cholinergic systems that are typically associated with premotor manifestations. This review discusses the importance of SPECT/PET applications in the detection of premotor markers preceding motor abnormalities with highlighting their great potential for early and accurate diagnosis of premotor symptoms of PD and its scientific significance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Rui-Hui
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Zhao-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Bo
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
keywords: Parkinson's disease; Position emission tomography; Premotor; Single-photon emission tomography