Neurology Medical News about restless leg syndrome;altered dopaminergic profile

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Altered dopaminergic profile in the putamen and substantia nigra in restless leg syndrome
Brain, 05/28/09

Connor JPR et al. – Autopsy study findings are the first to show a clear indication of dopamine pathology in restless leg syndrome (RLS), suggesting cellular regulation of dopamine production that closely matches data from cellular and animal iron insufficiency models. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a primary iron insufficiency produces a dopaminergic abnormality characterized as an overly activated dopaminergic system as part of RLS pathology.

Methods

Autopsy study of substantia nigra and putamen from primary RLS pts and neurologically normal controls
Quantitative profile of the dopaminergic system
Additional assays on a catecholaminergic cell line and animal models of iron deficiency

Results

Significant decrease in D2R in the putamen of RLS tissue vs controls correlated with RLS severity
Significant increases in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in substantia nigra, but not putamen, for RLS vs controls
Both TH and phosphorylated (active) TH significantly increased in both substantia nigra and putamen
No significant differences in either putamen or nigra for dopamine receptor 1, dopamine transporters or for VMAT
Significant increases in TH and phosphorylated TH in both animal and cell models of iron insufficiency similar to that from RLS autopsy data

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