Cerebrospinal fluid metabolite and nigrostriatal dopaminergic function in Parkinson's disease

Ishibashi K, Kanemaru K, Saito Y, Murayama S, Oda K, Ishiwata K, Mizusawa H, Ishii K. Cerebrospinal fluid metabolite and nigrostriatal dopaminergic function in Parkinson’s disease. Acta Neurol Scand: 2010: 122: 46–51. © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Munksgaard. Objectives – To evaluate the association between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) homovanillic acid (HVA) concentrations and nigrostriatal dopaminergic function assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with carbon‐11‐labeled 2β‐carbomethoxy‐3β‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐tropane (11C‐CFT), which can measure the dopamine transporter (DAT) density, in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods – 11C‐CFT PET scans and CSF examinations were performed on 21 patients with PD, and six patients with non‐parkinsonian syndromes (NPS) as a control group. Results – In the PD group, CSF HVA concentrations were significantly correlated with the striatal uptake of 11C‐CFT (r = 0.76, P