What is it about?
Using a new PET tracer, 11C-donepezil, we detected markedly decreased PET signal in the gut and pancreas in patients with Parkinson's disease compared to healthy controls. This may be the worlds first successful method to image the parasympathetic nervous system in living humans.
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Why is it important?
Parkinson's disease is characterised by a prolonged pre-clinical phase spanning perhaps 10-20 years prior to the actual diagnosis. Once disease-modifying agents become available which will halt the progression of Parkinson's disease, it becomes very important to identify the patients before the motor symptoms commence. Since it is known that constipation and a deficit in the parasympathetic system is present years prior to diagnosis, the new PET method may be able to substantiate a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease before the more troublesome symptoms develop.
Perspectives
Imaging the parasympathetic nervous system is important in Parkinson's disease, since it is believed that this system may be among the first structures to sustain damage in Parkinson's disease. An influential hypothesis posits that Parkinson may be initiated in the gut, especially in the parasympathetic nervous system. Thus, the new PET technique may be able to visualise that the parasympathetic system is damaged before the more well-established pathologies in Parkinson, including loss of dopamine function.
Dr Per Borghammer
Aarhus Universitet
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Imaging acetylcholinesterase density in peripheral organs in Parkinson's disease with 11C-donepezil PET, Brain, December 2014, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/brain/awu369.
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