Abstract

BACKGROUND
Essential tremor is the most common movement disorder in adults, but its exact etiology and pathophysiology are still not fully understood. There is some consensus, however, about the involvement of the cerebellum and accumulating evidence points towards a dysfunction of the gabaergic system. We hypothesize that the serotonin neurotransmission system may also play a role as it does in tremor in Parkinson disease. This study aimed to investigate the association between the severity of tremor symptoms and the gabaergic and serotoninergic neurotransmission systems in essential tremor.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
We measured the tremor clinical rating scale score and acquired DASB and Flumazenil PET scans in 10 patients who presented with essential tremor at different stages of clinical severity. Statistically significant correlations were sought between the scale scores and parametric binding potential images.
RESULTS
The correlation analysis of cerebellar Flumazenil uptake and tremor clinical rating scale scores reached statistical significance (R2 = 0.423, p = 0.041), whereas no association was detected in the DASB scans.
CONCLUSIONS
The severity of tremor correlated with the abnormalities found in GABA receptor binding, suggesting a primary gabaergic deficiency or a functional abnormality at the level of GABA(A) receptor subtypes. These results may assist in the rational development of new pharmacological treatments for essential tremor.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Gironell A, Figueiras FP, Pagonabarraga J, Herance JR, Pascual-Sedano B, Trampal C, Gispert JD

Institution

Movement Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Sant Pau Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. agironell@santpau.cat

Source

Parkinsonism & related disorders 18:7 2012 Aug pg 876-80

MeSH

Aged
Cerebellum
Essential Tremor
Female
Flumazenil
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Male
Middle Aged
Neuroimaging
Parkinson Disease
Positron-Emission Tomography
Serotonin
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22595620