Cholinergic imaging in corticobasal syndrome, progressive supranuclear palsy and frontotemporal dementia

• Published in: Brain (London, England : 1878) England : 1878), 2010-07, Vol.133 (7), p.2058-2068
• Main Authors: Hirano, Shigeki, Shinotoh, Hitoshi, Shimada, Hitoshi, Aotsuka, Akiyo, Tanaka, Noriko, Ota, Tsuneyoshi, Sato, Koichi, Ito, Hiroshi, Kuwabara, Satoshi, Fukushi, Kiyoshi, Irie, Toshiaki, Suhara, Tetsuya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetylcholinesterase; Aged; Basal Ganglia - enzymology; Basal Ganglia - pathology; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebral Cortex - enzymology; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cholinergic Fibers - enzymology; Cholinergic Fibers - pathology; corticobasal syndrome; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Female; frontotemporal dementia; Frontotemporal Dementia - pathology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Movement Disorders - enzymology; Movement Disorders - pathology; Neurology; positron emission tomography; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; progressive supranuclear palsy; Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive - enzymology; Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive - pathology; Syndrome
• ISSN: 0006-8950; 1460-2156
• DOI: 10.1093/brain/awq120

Corticobasal syndrome, progressive supranuclear palsy and frontotemporal dementia are all part of a disease spectrum that includes common cognitive impairment and movement disorders. The aim of this study was to characterize brain cholinergic deficits in these disorders. We measured brain acetylcholinesterase activity by [11C] N-methylpiperidin-4-yl acetate and positron emission tomography in seven patients with corticobasal syndrome (67.6 ± 5.9 years), 12 with progressive supranuclear palsy (68.5 ± 4.1 years), eight with frontotemporal dementia (59.8 ± 6.9 years) and 16 healthy controls (61.2 ± 8.5 years). Two-tissue compartment three-parameter model and non-linear least squares analysis with arterial input function were performed. k3 value, an index of acetylcholinesterase activity, was calculated voxel-by-voxel in the brain of each subject. The k3 images in each disease group were compared with the control group by using Statistical Parametric Mapping 2. Volume of interest analysis was performed on spatially normalized k3 images. The corticobasal syndrome group showed decreased acetylcholinesterase activity (k3 values) in the paracentral region, frontal, parietal and occipital cortices (P