%0 Journal Article
%T Cardiac sympathetic denervation and anxiety in Parkinson disease.
%A Carli G
%A Kanel P
%A Michalakis F
%A Roytman S
%A Bohnen JLB
%A Wigstrom TP
%A Scott P
%A Albin RL
%A Wong KK
%A Raffel D
%A Bohnen NI
%J Parkinsonism Relat Disord
%V 124
%N 0
%D 2024 Jul 3
%M 38723520
%F 4.402
%R 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2024.106997
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Anxiety in Parkinson disease (PD) negatively impacts quality of life. While research predominantly focuses on central nervous system changes, some evidence suggests a connection between peripheral autonomic dysfunctions and PD-related anxiety. The role of the peripheral autonomic nervous system in this context may be overlooked.<BR><B>OBJECTIVE: </B>This study explores the link between anxiety symptoms and cardiac sympathetic denervation in PD using 11C-meta-hydroxyephedrine ([11C]HED) PET cardiac imaging.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We studied 34 non-demented PD subjects, assessing anxiety levels through the Spielberg Anxiety State-Trait test trait section (STAI-T). Patients underwent comprehensive assessments along with [11C]HED cardiac and [11C]DTBZ brain PET. To identify subdimensions of STAI-T, we employed principal components analysis (PCA). We examined associations between the anxiety subdimensions and two measures of cardiac sympathetic denervation from [11C]HED PET. We utilized correlation and linear regression models for these analyses.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>PCA revealed two STAI-T results components: anxiety-depressive and pure anxiety subcomponents. Only pure anxiety significantly correlated with measures of cardiac sympathetic denervation (rhos -0.40, p = 0.018; 0.35, p = 0.043). Regression models confirmed a significant association, with cardiac sympathetic denervation explaining ∼20 % of pure anxiety variance, independent of sex, dopaminergic impairment, and anxiolytic treatments.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>This study provides preliminary evidence of peripheral autonomic nervous system abnormalities contributing to PD-related anxiety, suggesting dysregulation in peripheral autonomic functions influencing anxiety perception.