Impairments in gait kinematics and postural control may not correlate with dopamine transporter depletion in individuals with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the loss of dopamine, an important neurotransmitter involved in regulating movement. Nuclear medicine imaging methods such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) combined with radiotracers can obtain the density of this neurotransmitter. This reduced density leads to classic PD symptoms, such as bradykinesia, tremor and stiffness, consequently affecting walking and postural control. The aim of this study was to verify the correlation between disorders of gait kinematics and postural instability with dopamine depletion in individuals with mild to moderate PD. This is a descriptive, observational cross-sectional study. Subjects were assessed for spatiotemporal gait parameters by a three-dimensional motion capture system, for postural control by stabilometry on a force plate. Dopamine depletion was verified through 99mTc-TRODAT-1 (SPECT-CT) examination. The subjects were in the off-stage of levodopa in all analysis. We evaluated 71 individuals, 32 with mild to moderate PD (HY 2 and 2.5) and 39 healthy individuals matched for gender, age, and height. There was a significant difference between the groups regarding the spatiotemporal variables of gait, as well as in the stabilometric variables. However, there was no correlation between these disturbances and the uptake values of 99mTc-TRODAT-1. The results indicate that there is no correlation between gait impairments and postural instability of individuals with mild to moderate PD and the dopaminergic depletion measured through the 99mTc-TRODAT-1 (SPECT-CT).