Abstract
Parkinsonism is a feature of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy. The results of post-mortem studies point to dysfunction of the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system in patients with parkinsonism. Nowadays, by using single-photon emission tomography (SPET) and positron emission tomography (PET) it is possible to visualise both the nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons and the striatal dopamine D2 receptors in vivo. Consequently, SPET and PET imaging of elements of the dopaminergic system can play an important role in the diagnosis of several parkinsonian syndromes. This review concentrates on findings of SPET and PET studies of the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system in various parkinsonian syndromes.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Review
MeSH terms
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Carrier Proteins / metabolism
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Corpus Striatum / diagnostic imaging*
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Corpus Striatum / metabolism
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Dopamine / metabolism*
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Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
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Humans
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Membrane Glycoproteins*
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Membrane Transport Proteins*
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Nerve Tissue Proteins*
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Neurons / metabolism
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Parkinson Disease / diagnostic imaging*
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Parkinson Disease / metabolism
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Parkinson Disease / pathology
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Parkinson Disease, Secondary / diagnostic imaging*
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Parkinson Disease, Secondary / metabolism
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Parkinson Disease, Secondary / pathology
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Receptors, Dopamine D2 / metabolism*
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Receptors, Presynaptic
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Tomography, Emission-Computed
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Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
Substances
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Carrier Proteins
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Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
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Membrane Glycoproteins
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Membrane Transport Proteins
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Nerve Tissue Proteins
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Receptors, Dopamine D2
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Receptors, Presynaptic
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Dopamine