Metabolic network expression in parkinsonism: Clinical and dopaminergic correlations

Little is known of the precise relationship between the expression of disease-related metabolic patterns and nigrostriatal dopaminergic dysfunction in parkinsonism. We studied 51 subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) (18 non-demented, 24 demented, and 9 dementia with Lewy bodies) and 127 with atypical parkinsonian syndromes (47 multiple system atrophy (MSA), 38 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and 42 corticobasal syndrome (CBS)) with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET to quantify the expression of previously validated disease-related patterns for PD, MSA, PSP, and CBS and 18F-fluoropropyl-β-CIT PET to quantify caudate and putamen dopamine transporter (DAT) binding. The patients in each group exhibited significant elevations in the expression of the corresponding disease-related pattern ( p