Axonal α-synuclein aggregates herald centripetal degeneration of cardiac sympathetic nerve in Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Brain (London, England : 1878) Vol. 131; no. 3; pp. 642 - 650
• Main Authors: Orimo, Satoshi, Uchihara, Toshiki, Nakamura, Ayako, Mori, Fumiaki, Kakita, Akiyoshi, Wakabayashi, Koichi, Takahashi, Hitoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01.03.2008
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; alpha-Synuclein - metabolism; Axons - metabolism; cardiac sympathetic nerve; Female; Ganglia, Sympathetic - metabolism; Heart - innervation; Humans; Lewy Body Disease - metabolism; Male; Middle Aged; multiple system atrophy; Multiple System Atrophy - metabolism; Nerve Degeneration - etiology; Nerve Degeneration - metabolism; paravertebral sympathetic ganglia; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson Disease - metabolism; Parkinson's disease; Pericardium - innervation; Sympathetic Nervous System - metabolism; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase - metabolism; α-synuclein; cardiac sympathetic nerve; Parkinson's disease; multiple system atrophy; paravertebral sympathetic ganglia; α-synuclein

Degeneration of the cardiac sympathetic nerve occurs in both Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies and begins early in the disease progression of PD, accounting for reduced cardiac uptake of meta-iodobenzylguanidine even in the early stages of Lewy body disease (LBD). We previo...