30 January 2012
Jin L,
Wang
J, Jin H,
Fei
G, Zhang
Y, Chen
W, Zhao
L, Zhao
N, Sun X,
Zeng
M, Zhong
C
Background and purpose: To investigate whether brain iron deposition correlates with motor phenotypic expressions of Parkinson’s disease.
Methods:
We subtyped patients with Parkinson’s disease according to their main
motor symptoms (tremor, rigidity/bradykinesia) into three subgroups:
tremor-dominant subgroup, akinetic/rigid-dominant subgroup, or mixed
subgroup. The iron levels in bilateral substantia nigra, globus
pallidus, putamen, the head of caudate, and red nucleus of 87 patients
and 50 control subjects were assayed by measuring phase values using
susceptibility-weighted phase imaging in a 3-tesla magnetic resonance
system. The serum ceruloplasmin levels of all subjects were determined.
Results:
The bilateral average phase values of the substantia nigra and all
other brain regions examined did not correlate with the main motor
symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in the total patient group or when
patients were grouped according to serum ceruloplasmin levels.
Significant correlations between serum ceruloplasmin levels and nigral
bilateral average phase values were observed in the tremor and
akinetic/rigid-dominant subgroups. Analysis of patients without prior
dopaminergic medication exhibited similar results. Increased nigral iron
content correlated with disease severity as assayed by the Unified
Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale motor scores in the PDAR subgroup.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that nigral iron deposition, correlating with
decreased serum ceruloplasmin levels, is a risk factor in Parkinson’s
disease across multiple motor phenotypic expressions.
