Hypersensitivity of cortical muscarinic receptors in Parkinson's disease demonstrated by PET

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Abstract
The status of muscarinic receptors (mAChRs) is not clear in Parkinson's disease (PD). We measured mAChR binding in the brain of eight patients with PD and eight, age-matched, healthy controls by positron emission tomography (PET) and [11C]N-methyl-4-piperidyl benzilate ([11C]NMPB). PD patients were not demented according to DSM III criteria but showed significant frontal lobe dysfunction in the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. A mean K3 value, which is an index of mAChR binding calculated by a graphical method, was 20% higher in the frontal cortex of PD patients than controls (p < 0.05). Hypersensitivity of mAChRs in the frontal cortex of PD patients may be a response to a loss of ascending cholinergic input to that region, and may relate to frontal lobe dysfunction in PD.