Despite a weak correlation with PD severity and progression, quantitative measurements of DAT binding at baseline could be used to predict the emergence of late-disease motor fluctuations and dyskinesias.
The effects of levodopa sparing on dyskinesia development were assessed with Kaplan-Meier estimates and a stratified Cox regression model adjusted for age of onset, sex, dopamine transporter availability, and daily levodopa dose per weight.
The DAT upregulation by rotigotine in an opposite direction with respect to early Parkinson disease compensatory mechanisms might reduce the risk of dyskinesia, but it could imply less motor benefit because of less stimulation by the dopamine itself on dopaminergic receptors.
This report emphasizes the usefulness of the neopterin level in cerebrospinal fluids and dopamine transporter imaging in the differential diagnosis of DRD syndromes and a possible mechanism of levodopa-induced-dyskinesia in early childhood onset case.
No significant difference was found in levodopa main outcome variables and dyskinesia incidence between the two groups of patients stratified by DAT VNTR polymorphism.
The wealth of information about this interesting molecule that has been developed over the last 12 years has led to increased interest in DAT among workers interested in both normal and abnormal movement.