June 22, 2015

Gut Denervation Occurs Sequentially in Parkinson's

he sequence of denervation of gut organs may reflect the stage of Parkinson’s disease (PD), a study suggests.  When Danish researchers used 11C-donepezil as a biomarker in positron emission tomography (PET) to look at parasympathetic innervation, they found decreased binding in the small intestine, indicating denervation, but not in the pancreas of newly diagnosed patients with PD in the premotor phase of the disease. Denervation of the pancreas occurred in the motor phase of PD.  {read more here}