Sympathetic noradrenergic before striatal dopaminergic denervation: relevance to Braak staging of synucleinopathy

DS Goldstein, C Holmes, LT Sewell, MY Park… - Clinical autonomic …, 2012 - Springer
DS Goldstein, C Holmes, LT Sewell, MY Park, Y Sharabi
Clinical autonomic research, 2012Springer
Braak's staging concept of Lewy body disease pathogenesis is based on a spatiotemporal
sequence of alpha-synuclein deposition, with autonomic nervous system involvement before
synucleinopathy in substantia nigra neurons. A patient with primary chronic autonomic
failure underwent biennial brain 6-[18 F] DOPA and myocardial 6-[18 F] dopamine scanning
over 4 years. Low myocardial radioactivity indicated cardiac noradrenergic denervation that
persisted. Striatal 6-[18 F] DOPA-derived radioactivity initially was normal, 2 years later was …
Abstract
Braak’s staging concept of Lewy body disease pathogenesis is based on a spatiotemporal sequence of alpha-synuclein deposition, with autonomic nervous system involvement before synucleinopathy in substantia nigra neurons. A patient with primary chronic autonomic failure underwent biennial brain 6-[18F]DOPA and myocardial 6-[18F]dopamine scanning over 4 years. Low myocardial radioactivity indicated cardiac noradrenergic denervation that persisted. Striatal 6-[18F]DOPA-derived radioactivity initially was normal, 2 years later was decreased subtly, and by 4 years was clearly decreased, accompanied by dementia and parkinsonism. In this case, neuroimaging evidence of cardiac noradrenergic denervation and subsequent progressive striatal dopaminergic denervation fit with Braak staging.
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