Dopamine uptake sites in Parkinson's disease and in dementia of the Alzheimer type

Abstract

The binding of [ 3H]GBR-12935 to dopamine (DA) uptake sites was studied in post-mortem putamen from a control group and from patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) or dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). The specific binding ( B max) was almost completely abolished in the PD group and reduced by 65% in the DAT group. There were no significant differences in apparent binding affinity ( K d) between the DAT group and controls. The decreases in [ 3H]GBR-12935 binding to DA uptake sites in this study indicate a marked degeneration of DA neurites in the putamen in PD and also in DAT.