Objective: The main aim of this study was to examine the effect of cholinergic nerve terminal integrity in the brain on measures of sarcopenia.

Background: Sarcopenia can accompany Parkinson disease (PD) as an apparent peripheral muscular symptom that typically is attributed to increased sedentariness and aging. However, it is unclear whether central mechanisms may also play a role.

Methods: 37 PD patients (age=66.3±5.9 years, Hoehn and Yahr stage 2.4±0.6) underwent whole body tissue absorptiometry using a Hologic DEXA scanner and cholinergic brain PET imaging of the VAChT using [¹⁸F]FEOBV.  Appendicular lean body mass (kg/m²) was calculated. [¹⁸F]FEOBV was synthesized following standard methods and a short (30 minutes) dynamic scan (every 5 minutes) was obtained 3 hours after bolus injection. Distribution volume ratio (DVR) was determined for MR based volumes of interests (using Freesurfer) with the supratentorial white matter as the reference region.

Results: Mean appendicular lean body mass was 7.73±1.61 kg/m². Mean cortical ¹⁸F]FEOBV was  1.14±0.1. Increased appendicular lean body mass was associated with increased cortical VAChT activity (R=0.38, P= 0.019). Similar results were obtained when using lean body mass normalized to age-matched data.

Conclusions: Appendicular lean body mass correlates with cerebral cholinergic innervation in PD independent of age. This finding suggests a disease specific effect. Further research is needed to determine whether cerebral cholinergic denervation is associated with parallel  loss of spinal cord motor neuron cholinergic activity, leading to weakened peripheral muscular function.

« Back to 2017 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/increased-appendicular-lean-body-mass-is-associated-with-increased-cerebral-cholinergic-innervation-in-parkinson-disease/