Cerebral Amyloid Burden and Hoehn and Yahr Stage 3 Scoring in Parkinson Disease

• Published in: Journal of Parkinson's disease Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 143 - 147
• Main Authors: Kotagal, Vikas, Bohnen, Nicolaas I., Müller, Martijn L.T.M., Frey, Kirk A., Albin, Roger L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2017; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Aged; Amyloid beta-Peptides - metabolism; Carbon Radioisotopes; Case-Control Studies; Cerebrum - diagnostic imaging; Cerebrum - metabolism; Cortex; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease Progression; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Movement disorders; Neostriatum; Neurodegenerative diseases; Parkinson Disease - diagnostic imaging; Parkinson Disease - metabolism; Parkinson Disease - physiopathology; Parkinson's disease; Positron emission tomography; Severity of Illness Index; Parkinson disease; cerebral cortex; amyloid; positron emission tomography
• ISSN: 1877-7171; 1877-718X
• DOI: 10.3233/JPD-160985

Background: Progression to Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stage 3 marks the transition to advanced disease staging and disability in Parkinson disease (PD). Objective/Methods: We conducted a case-control study of 36 PD subjects at HY stage 2.5 or 3, with groups matched for gender, age, and disease duration. Positron Emission tomography (PET) imaging included dihydrotetrabenazine [11C]DTBZ and Pittsburgh Compound B [11C]PiB. Results: Subjects with HY 2.5 differed from HY 3.0 in mean cortical PiB distribution volume ratio (1.14 vs. 1.23; Wilcoxon two-sample Z = 2.36, p = 0.024) but not striatal DTBZ PET. Conclusion: Cortical amyloid burden differentiates subjects below and at HY stage 3. These results suggest that cortical amyloid accumulation influences the transition from HY2.5 to HY3 and that cortical amyloidopathy may be a therapeutic target in PD.