Association of autonomic symptoms with presynaptic striatal dopamine depletion in drug-naive Parkinson's disease: An analysis of the PPMI data

While the involvement of the central and peripheral autonomic networks is thought to play an integral role in the development of autonomic symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), there is little evidence for an association between autonomic symptoms and striatal dopaminergic depletion. We compared dopamine transporter activity in striatal subregions with various autonomic symptoms covered by the SCOPA-AUT domains including gastrointestinal, urinary, cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, pupillomotor, and sexual symptoms in 418 untreated patients with PD. We found evidence for a dopaminergic association with only urinary symptoms. Moreover, dopaminergic denervation in the putamen but not in the caudate may underlie these symptoms.