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Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between autonomic dysfunction and striatal dopamine depletion or metabolic changes in de novo Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: Based on the Composite Autonomic Severity Score (CASS), patients with de novo PD were classified into PD with (PD-AUT+) and without autonomic dysfunction (PD-AUT-) groups. We compared the dopamine transporter (DAT) availability in the striatum by quantitatively measuring F-FP-CIT PET between both groups. We also assessed the association between DAT availability and the CASS. In addition, we compared regional uptake in early-phase images of F-FP-CIT PET as well as cortical thickness between the PD-AUT+ and PD-AUT- groups.

Results: The PD-AUT+ group had significantly lower DAT availability in all striatal subregions than did the PD-AUT- group. The total CASS was significantly correlated with DAT availability in all striatal subregions. In addition, the subscores of the adrenergic component were correlated with DAT availability in all striatal subregions. The subscores of the cardiovagal component were negatively correlated with DAT availability in the caudate and ventral striatum. In early-phase F-FP-CIT PET, the PD-AUT+ group exhibited decreased regional perfusion in the parieto-occipital areas and increased regional perfusion in the pallidothalamic, pontocerebellar, inferior frontal, and primary motor areas compared with the PD-AUT- group. There were no regions of different cortical thickness between the PD groups.

Conclusions: The present study revealed that autonomic dysfunction is closely linked to striatal dopamine depletion and prominent PD-related perfusion patterns in de novo PD, suggesting a greater pathological burden in patients with dysautonomia.

Affiliations

Hae-Won Shin  1 , Seok Jong Chung  2   3 , Sangwon Lee  4 , Jungho Cha  5 , Young H Sohn  2 , Mijin Yun  4 , Phil Hyu Lee  2   6
1 From the Department of Neurology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul.
2 Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul.
3 Department of Neurology, Yongin Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System, Yongin.
4 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
5 Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
6 Severance Biomedical Science Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.