Eisensehr I, Linke R, Tatsch K, von Lindeiner H, Kharraz B, Gildehaus F J, Eberle R, Pollmacher T, Schuld A, Noachtar S
Departments of Neurology, University of Munich, Germany.
Neurology. 2003 Jun 10;60(11):1817-9. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000069608.84542.46.
Striatal D2/D3 dopaminergic receptors have been proposed to play a role in cataplexy. The authors studied the striatal presynaptic dopamine transporter and postsynaptic D2-receptors in seven patients with narcolepsy and seven control subjects using 123I-(3-iodopropene-2-yl)-2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorophenyl)tropane and 123I-2-hydroxy-3-iodo-6-methoxy-([1-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinyl]methyl)benzamide SPECT. D2-receptor binding was elevated in narcolepsy (p = 0.017) and correlated with the frequency of cataplectic and sleep attacks (R > or = 0.844, p < or = 0.017). The human striatal dopaminergic system is altered in vivo in narcolepsy/cataplexy.
