Differential response of the central noradrenergic nervous system to the loss of locus coeruleus neurons in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT: In Parkinson's disease (PD), there is a significant loss of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) in addition to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). The goal of this study was to determine if the surviving LC noradrenergic neurons in PD demonstrate compensatory changes in response to the neuronal loss, as observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) mRNA expression in postmortem LC tissue of control and age-matched PD subjects demonstrated a significant reduction in the number of noradrenergic neurons in the LC of PD subjects. TH mRNA expression/neuron did not differ between control and PD subjects, but DBH mRNA expression/neuron was significantly elevated in PD subjects compared to control. This inc

SUBMITTER: McMillan PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3038670 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature