Serotonergic pathology and disease burden in the premotor and motor phase of A53T α-synuclein parkinsonism: a cross-sectional study

Publication date: Available online 19 June 2019Source: The Lancet NeurologyAuthor(s): Heather Wilson, George Dervenoulas, Gennaro Pagano, Christos Koros, Tayyabah Yousaf, Marina Picillo, Sotirios Polychronis, Athina Simitsi, Beniamino Giordano, Zachary Chappell, Benjamin Corcoran, Maria Stamelou, Roger N Gunn, Maria Teresa Pellecchia, Eugenii A Rabiner, Paolo Barone, Leonidas Stefanis, Marios PolitisSummaryBackgroundBecause of the highly penetrant gene mutation and clinical features consistent with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, carriers of the autosomal dominant Ala53Thr (A53T; 209G→A) point mutation in the α-synuclein (SNCA) gene are an ideal population to study the premotor phase and evolution of Parkinson's pathology. Given the known neurochemical changes in the serotonergic system and their association with symptoms of Parkinson's disease, we hypothesised that carriers of the A53T SNCA mutation might show abnormalities in the serotonergic neurotransmitter system before the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and that this pathology might be associated with measures of Parkinson's burden.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we recruited carriers of the A53T SNCA mutation from specialist Movement Disorders clinics in Athens, Greece, and Salerno, Italy, and a cohort of healthy controls with no personal or family history of neurological or psychiatric disorders from London, UK (recruited via public advertisement) who were age matched to the A53T SNCA carriers. We also rec...
Source: The Lancet Neurology - Category: Neurology Source Type: research