Parkinson Disease: Peckham E

Nahab FB, Peckham E, Hallett M. · Human Motor Control Section, NINDS/NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1428, USA. · Pract Neurol. · Pubmed #17636137 No free full text.

Abstract: The diagnosis and management of essential tremor appears deceptively simple. However, isolated mild tremor may be difficult to classify, and if the patients have any additional features the diagnosis is more difficult. Management can be challenging, despite the numerous treatments available, because so many patients are not benefited adequately and some not at all. However, as we gain a better understanding of the disorder, more effective therapies with fewer adverse effects are sure to follow.

Goldstein DS, Imrich R, Peckham E, Holmes C, Lopez G, Crews C, Hardy J, Singleton A, Hallett M. · Clinical Neurocardiology Section, National Institutes on Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892-1620, USA. · Neurology. · Pubmed #17625107 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) often have cardiac sympathetic denervation and failure of neurocirculatory regulation by baroreflexes. Familial PD caused by mutation of the gene encoding alpha-synuclein or by alpha-synuclein gene triplication also features cardiac sympathetic denervation and baroreflex failure. METHODS: Here we report results of cardiac sympathetic neuroimaging by 6-[(18)F]fluorodopamine PET, baroreflex testing based on beat-to-beat hemodynamic responses to the Valsalva maneuver, and nigrostriatal neuroimaging using 6-[(18)F] fluorodopa PET in a proband with mutation of the gene encoding leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), the most common genetic abnormality identified so far in familial PD. RESULTS: The patient had no detectable 6-[(18)F] fluorodopamine-derived radioactivity in the left ventricular myocardium, a progressive fall in blood pressure during the Valsalva maneuver and no pressure overshoot after release of the maneuver, and decreased 6-[(18)F] fluorodopa-derived radioactivity bilaterally in the putamen and substantia nigra. CONCLUSION: This patient with Parkinson disease (PD) caused by LRRK2 mutation had evidence of cardiac sympathetic denervation, baroreflex-sympathoneural and baroreflex-cardiovagal failure, and nigrostriatal dopamine deficiency, a pattern resembling that in the sporadic disease. The results fit with the concept that in LRRK2 PD, parkinsonism, cardiac sympathetic denervation, and baroreflex failure can result from a common pathogenetic process.

Fung HC, Scholz S, Matarin M, Simón-Sánchez J, Hernandez D, Britton A, Gibbs JR, Langefeld C, Stiegert ML, Schymick J, Okun MS, Mandel RJ, Fernandez HH, Foote KD, Rodríguez RL, Peckham E, De Vrieze FW, Gwinn-Hardy K, Hardy JA, Singleton A. · Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. · Lancet Neurol. · Pubmed #17052657 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Several genes underlying rare monogenic forms of Parkinson's disease have been identified over the past decade. Despite evidence for a role for genetics in sporadic Parkinson's disease, few common genetic variants have been unequivocally linked to this disorder. We sought to identify any common genetic variability exerting a large effect in risk for Parkinson's disease in a population cohort and to produce publicly available genome-wide genotype data that can be openly mined by interested researchers and readily augmented by genotyping of additional repository subjects. METHODS: We did genome-wide, single-nucleotide-polymorphism (SNP) genotyping of publicly available samples from a cohort of Parkinson's disease patients (n=267) and neurologically normal controls (n=270). More than 408,000 unique SNPs were used from the Illumina Infinium I and HumanHap300 assays. FINDINGS: We have produced around 220 million genotypes in 537 participants. This raw genotype data has been and as such is the first publicly accessible high-density SNP data outside of the International HapMap Project. We also provide here the results of genotype and allele association tests. INTERPRETATION: We generated publicly available genotype data for Parkinson's disease patients and controls so that these data can be mined and augmented by other researchers to identify common genetic variability that results in minor and moderate risk for disease.