rss
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1998;65:155-163 doi:10.1136/jnnp.65.2.155
  • Paper

Brain muscarinic receptors in progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson’s disease: a positron emission tomographic study

  1. Masato Asahinaa,b,
  2. Tetsuya Suharaa,
  3. Hitoshi Shinotoha,b,
  4. Osamu Inouea,
  5. Kazutoshi Suzukia,
  6. Takamichi Hattorib
  1. aDivision of Clinical Research and Radiation Health, National Institute of Radiological Science, Chiba, Japan, bDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
  1. Dr M Asahina, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1–8–1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. Telephone 0081 43 222 7171 ext 5414; fax 0081 43 226 2160; emailmasatoasahina{at}msn.com
  • Received 28 October 1997
  • Revised 9 December 1997
  • Accepted 9 December 1997

Abstract

OBJECTIVES To assess muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) in the brains of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson’s disease, and to correlate the cholinergic system with cognitive function in progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson’s disease.

METHODS Positron emission tomography (PET) and [11C]N-methyl-4-piperidyl benzilate ([11C]NMPB) was used to measure mAChRs in the brain of seven patients with progressive supranuclear palsy, 12 patients with Parkinson’s disease, and eight healthy controls. All of the patients with progressive supranuclear palsy were demented. The Parkinson’s disease group consisted of 11 non-demented patients and one demented patient. The mini mental state examination (MMSE) was used to assess the severity of cognitive dysfunction in all of the subjects. The modified Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) was used to evaluate frontal cognitive function in the non-demented patients with Parkinson’s disease and controls.

RESULTS The mean K3 value, an index of mAChR binding, was significantly higher for the frontal cortex in the patients with Parkinson’s disease than in the controls (p<0.01). By contrast, the patients with progressive supranuclear palsy had no significant changes in the K3 values of any cerebral cortical regions. The mean score of the MMSE in the progressive supranuclear palsy group was significantly lower than that in the control group. Although there was no difference between the Parkinson’s disease and control groups in the MMSE, the non-demented patients with Parkinson’s disease showed significant frontal lobe dysfunction in the WCST.

CONCLUSIONS The increased mAChR binding in the frontal cortex of the patients with Parkinson’s disease may reflect denervation hypersensitivity caused by loss of the ascending cholinergic input to that region from the basal forebrain and may be related to frontal lobe dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. The cerebral cortical cholinergic system may not have a major role in cognitive dysfunction in progressive supranuclear palsy.

Footnotes

    This Article

    1. Abstract
    2. Full text
    3. PDF

    Responses

    1. Submit a response
    2. No responses published

    Register for free content

    The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

    Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.

    BMJ Careers - Latest neurology and neurosurgery jobs