Department of Neurology, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico City, Mexico.
Neurochem Res. 2011 Nov;36(11):2111-5. doi: 10.1007/s11064-011-0535-x. Epub 2011 Jun 26.
Increased area of the substantia nigra (SN) associated to iron deposition has been proposed as a specific marker for Parkinson's disease (PD). Echogenicity, assessed by transcranial sonography (TCS), has been used to measure such an iron deposition. On the other hand, ferroxidase activity is known to play a role in brain iron metabolism and thus could be involved in increased SN echogenicity of PD patients. The present study was conducted to search for a possible correlation between both markers: TCS of SN and plasma ferroxidase activity. Twenty-one PD patients and 13 healthy volunteers (HV) were included. Mean SN sonographic areas were 0.31 cm² for PD patients and 0.12 cm² for HV (P < 0.001), while plasma ferroxidase activity was reduced in PD patients (P < 0.001). Interestingly, plasma ferroxidase activity was inversely correlated with the SN size by TCS (R² = 0.31), suggesting a relationship between the two markers.
黑质（SN）面积增加与铁沉积有关，被认为是帕金森病（PD）的特异性标志物。经颅超声（TCS）评估的回声性用于测量这种铁沉积。另一方面，已知铁氧化酶活性在脑铁代谢中起作用，因此可能与 PD 患者 SN 回声性增加有关。本研究旨在寻找这两种标志物之间的可能相关性：SN 的 TCS 和血浆铁氧化酶活性。纳入了 21 名 PD 患者和 13 名健康志愿者（HV）。PD 患者的平均 SN 超声面积为 0.31cm²，HV 为 0.12cm²（P<0.001），而 PD 患者的血浆铁氧化酶活性降低（P<0.001）。有趣的是，血浆铁氧化酶活性与 TCS 测量的 SN 大小呈负相关（R²=0.31），表明这两种标志物之间存在关系。
