title: Association between dopaminergic dysfunction and anxiety in de novo Parkinson's disease.
abstract: To explore the relationships between nigrostriatal dysfunction and neuropsychiatric symptoms (including anxiety, depression and apathy) in a large cohort of newly diagnosed, drug-naïve Parkinson disease (PD) patients compared to a cohort of healthy controls (HC).
  
  
  
  This is a cross-sectional analysis of the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) cohort at baseline, including 405 PD patients and 187 HC. Nigrostriatal degeneration was evaluated by means of SPECT DAT scan. Relationships between neuropsychiatric symptoms and DAT uptakes were analysed by means of stepwise multiple regression analysis.
  
  
  
  In the PD group, lower DAT uptake in the right caudate was associated with higher STAI trait subscore (β = -2.939, 95%CI: -4.634 to -1.254, p = 0.001). Depression and apathy scores were not related with DAT uptakes. No associations were found in the HC group.
  
  
  
  Our cross-sectional analysis of the PPMI data shows that lower caudate DAT uptake is associated with higher level of anxiety. The data strengthens the relationship between dopaminergic dysfunction and neuropsychiatric symptoms in early PD.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Section, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picillo
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santangelo
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche e del Movimento, Università di Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erro
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Section, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Autilia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cozzolino
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Section, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy; IDC Hermitage-Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amboni
authors.affiliation: IDC Hermitage-Capodimonte, Naples, Italy; University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Section, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barone
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), Department of Medicine and Surgery, Neuroscience Section, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: mpellecchia@unisa.it.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pellecchia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D004298:Dopamine
keywords: Anxiety; Apathy; DAT; Depression; Dopaminergic; Non motor symptoms; Parkinson's disease; SPECT