Journal of Parkinson's Disease - Volume Pre-press, issue Pre-press

Authors: Löhle, Matthias | Hermann, Wiebke | Hausbrand, Denise | Wolz, Martin | Mende, Julia | Beuthien-Baumann, Bettina | Oehme, Liane | van den Hoff, Jörg | Kotzerke, Jörg | Reichmann, Heinz | Hermann, Andreas | Storch, Alexander

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background and Objective: To investigate the predictive value of striatal dopamine turnover in patients with de novo Parkinson’s disease (PD) for later occurrence of major non-motor health outcomes. Methods: This retrospective, observer-blinded cohort study followed up 29 patients with de novo PD for a median of 10.7 years, who completed 18 Fluorodopa PET imaging to measure striatal effective distribution volume ratio (EDVR, inverse of dopamine turnover) prior to antiparkinsonian treatment. Outcomes were assessed with a battery of non-motor, health-related quality-of-life and non-motor fluctuation (WOQ-19) measures and survival. Results: During follow-up, 52% of patients developed …wearing-off, 43% neuropsychiatric fluctuations, 35% sensory fluctuations, 32% dementia, 46% depression, 30% psychosis, and PD-related mortality was 26%. Patients with wearing-off and neuropsychiatric fluctuations showed significantly lower baseline EDVR (higher dopamine turnover) in the putamen but not in the caudate nucleus than those without these fluctuations. Consistently, baseline EDVR in the putamen predicted development of wearing-off and neuropsychiatric fluctuations with a lower risk with higher EDVR (lower dopamine turnover), whereas EDVR in caudate nucleus did not correlate with these fluctuations. No relationships were observed between baseline PET measures and the presence of other major health outcomes including survival. Conclusions: Lower putaminal dopamine turnover in de novo PD is associated with reduced risk for later neuropsychiatric fluctuations comprising a disease-intrinsic predisposing factor for their development, similar as reported for levodopa-induced motor complications. Striatal (putaminal/caudate) dopamine turnover is not predictive for other long-term major health outcomes. These results should be treated as hypothesis generating and require confirmation. Show more

Keywords: Non-motor fluctuations, motor complication, long-term major health outcomes, dopamine turnover, prediction

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-191672

Citation: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. Pre-press, no. Pre-press, pp. 1-12, 2019

Authors: Du, Juanjuan | Huang, Pei | Qian, Yiwei | Yang, Xiaodong | Cui, Shishuang | Lin, Yiqi | Gao, Chao | Zhang, Pingchen | He, Yixi | Xiao, Qin | Chen, Shengdi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background and Objective: To explore the alterations of microbial 16s ribosomal (rRNA) gene in the feces and blood of Chinese patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and its relationships with clinical features. Methods: 40 MSA patients (MSA-P/MSA-C: 23/17) and their healthy spouses were recruited. Fecal and blood microbiota were investigated by high-throughput IllUmina Miseq sequencing targeted on the V3-V4 functional region of 16s rRNA gene. The relationships between microbiota and clinical characteristics were analyzed. Results: The abundances of Lactobacillus, Gordonibacter, Phascolarctobacterium, and Haemophilus in feces and abundances of Leucobacter, and Bacteroides in blood were different between …MSA patients and healthy controls (HC). Combining the taxa from feces and blood, six genera were identified to be predictive of MSA, achieving an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.853. The abundances of Phascolarctobacterium and Ruminococcus in feces were lower in MSA-P than those in MSA-C. The abundances of Blastococcus, Bacillus, and Acinetobacter in blood were different between MSA subtypes. These five genera differentiated MSA subtypes with an AUC of 0.898. Functional predictions indicated that gene functions involving biosynthetic metabolism and bacterial secretion systems were significantly different between the MSA and HC. The differential genera were associated with disease duration, anxiety, and autonomic dysfunctions. Conclusions: We confirmed the alterations of microbial 16s rRNA gene in the feces and blood occurs in Chinese patients with MSA. Microbiota dysbiosis was related to MSA clinical manifestations. Elucidating these differences in microbiomes will be helpful to improve our knowledge of the microbiota in the pathogenesis of MSA. Show more

Keywords: Multiple system atrophy, 16s rRNA gene, microbiota, blood, feces

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-191612

Citation: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. Pre-press, no. Pre-press, pp. 1-11, 2019

Authors: Jeziorska, Maria | Atkinson, Andrew | Kass-Iliyya, Lewis | Kobylecki, Christopher | Gosal, David | Marshall, Andrew | Malik, Rayaz A. | Silverdale, Monty

Article Type: Short Communication

Abstract: We assessed small nerve fibre degeneration and regeneration in more and less affected sides in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Bilateral skin biopsies from 23 PD patients were immunostained for PGP9.5 for Intraepidermal Nerve Fibre Density (IENFD) and GAP-43 for mean axonal length (MAL), total epidermal (TNFL) and subepidermal nerve fibre length (SKTNFL). IENFD (p  < 0.001) and SKTNFL (p  < 0.001) were lower, whilst MAL (p  < 0.001) and TNFL (p  < 0.05) were higher in more affected versus less affected side. These results suggest increased small nerve fibre degeneration accompanied by enhanced nerve regeneration on the side more affected by PD and GAP-43 usefulness …in skin biopsy assessment. Show more

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, peripheral neuropathy, intraepidermal nerve fibre

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-191697

Citation: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. Pre-press, no. Pre-press, pp. 1-5, 2019

Article Type: Correction

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-189001

Citation: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. Pre-press, no. Pre-press, pp. 1-1, 2018