title: Decreased intestinal acetylcholinesterase in early Parkinson disease: An11C-donepezil PET study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate systemic levels of acetylcholinesterase in early Parkinson disease (PD) with11C-donepezil PET, a potential marker of parasympathetic innervation.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study with 19 patients with early-stage PD (disease duration 1.5 ± 0.6 years) and 16 age-matched controls who had clinical assessments, olfaction tests, and11C-donepezil PET to measure acetylcholinesterase density in peripheral organs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients with PD showed significantly reduced11C-donepezil uptake in the small intestine (-14%,p= 0.018), colon (-22%,p< 0.001), and kidneys (-14%,p= 0.028). No difference in myocardial or pancreatic acetylcholinesterase levels was seen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found significantly decreased11C-donepezil signal in the intestine and kidneys of patients with early PD, suggesting that parasympathetic denervation is present early in the disease course.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. tdf@clin.au.dk.
authors.forename: Tatyana D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Fedorova
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Louise B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Seidelin
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Karoline
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anna C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Schacht
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geday
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pavese
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre (T.D.F., L.B.S., K.K., A.C.S., N.P., D.J.B., P.B.) and Department of Neurology (J.G.), Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borghammer
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans; D007422:Intestines / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000201:enzymology*; D007668:Kidney / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000201:enzymology; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000201:enzymology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000201:enzymology*; D010880:Piperidines; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012372:ROC Curve; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D000077265:Donepezil; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase