苍白球脑桥黑质变性家族11例成员的快动眼睡眠行为障碍缺失

背景：快动眼睡眠行为障碍（RBD）是一种表现为梦境行为的深眠状态。RBD多导睡眠图的电生理基础是无张力减低的快动眼睡眠。尽管尚不清楚累及何种特殊的网络，但RBD可能缘自脑干的神经元网络功能紊乱。RBD通常与散发的突触核蛋白病相联系，但很少与散发的tau病相关。无张力减低的快动眼睡眠与任何家族性tau病的RBD之间可能存在的联系尚无报道。目的：描述1个家族性tau病家族的临床睡眠和多导睡眠图特征。方法：对苍白球脑桥黑质变性家族中的11例成员进行标准多导睡眠图检查，而不考虑任何睡眠相关疾病。结果：对6例受累和5例从家系上而言有患病风险的家族成员进行研究，11例受试者均无梦境行为病史。11例家族成员中9例的多导睡眠图表现为充足的快动眼睡眠，所有受试者均缺失无张力减低的快动眼睡眠电生理特征和RBD的行为表现。4例受累受试者的神经病理检查显示3例受试者表现为显著的黑质变性以及蓝斑、脑桥神经核和被盖部、延髓被盖部的轻度变性改变。结论：上述试验结果与黑质变性是RBD主要原因的观点相反，该家族缺乏RBD的病史、电生理学和行为表现，进一步为RBD在散发性和家族性tau病中罕见的观点提供了证据。与tau病相比，RBD相关突触核蛋白病发病率的不同提示，突触核蛋白病与tau病之间脑干环路的选择性损害存在差异。     

Investigating the role of FUS exonic variants in Essential Tremor

Essential Tremor is the most common form of movement disorder. Aggregation in families suggests a strong genetic component to disease. Linkage and association studies have identified several risk loci but the specific causal variants are still unknown. A recent study using whole exome sequencing identified a rare nonsense variant in the FUS gene (p.Q290X) that segregated with Essential Tremor in a large French Canadian family. In addition, two other rare FUS variants were identified (p.R216C and p.P431L) in Essential Tremor patients however co-segregation analysis with disease was not possible. In the present study, we sequenced all 15 exons of FUS in 152 familial probands with Essential Tremor and genotyped three reported FUS variants in 112 sporadic Essential Tremor patients and 716 control subjects recruited at Mayo Clinic Florida. Only known synonymous SNPs unlikely to be pathogenic were detected in our sequencing and not any of the recently identified mutations or novel ones. We conclude that the FUS mutations associated with risk of Essential Tremor are probably a rare occurrence.     

Thalamic stimulation for the treatment of midline tremors in essential tremor patients

The authors prospectively collected unblinded data from 27 consecutive patients following thalamic stimulation. A significant reduction of midline tremor was achieved after unilateral surgery, but a staged contralateral surgery had an additional effect. A subgroup analysis showed significant beneficial effects for head, voice, tongue, and face tremor. The most frequent reversible side effects were disequilibrium, dysarthria, and paresthesias. We observed more pulse generator adjustments for speech problems in the bilaterally implanted group.     

Thalamic deep brain stimulation for tremor-predominant Parkinson's disease

OBJECTIVES: Determine the long-term efficacy of thalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment of tremor among individuals with tremor-predominant Parkinson's disease (PD).Design. Longitudinal, unblinded assessment of tremor and activities of daily living (ADL) at baseline (pre-surgical), and post-operative intervals of 1, 3, and 12 months, and annually thereafter up to 3 years. METHODS: A clinical series of 19 individuals undergoing placement of a DBS system for treatment of PD-related tremor. A battery of subjective and objective measures of tremor was completed at planned pre- and post-operative intervals. RESULTS: Stimulation was associated with significant improvement on subjective and objective measures of ADL performance, midline tremor, and contralateral upper and lower extremity tremor, including parkinsonian resting and action tremors, over the follow-up period. Ipsilateral tremor showed little or no effect of stimulation after the first 3 months. Antiparkinsonian medication use and stimulation parameters showed little or no change over the course of follow-up. About half (53%) of all individuals reported at least one side effect, generally mild, during the follow-up period, with paresthesias and dysarthria being the most common. A total of two leads required replacement due to (1) infection, and (2) adverse side effects (i.e. burning and tingling with stimulation). CONCLUSION: DBS is associated with stable tremor control in PD. Side-effects are typically easily managed with stimulation adjustments, although in some cases lead replacement may be required.     

Brainstem atrophy on routine MR study in pallidopontonigral degeneration

Journal of Neurology -     

Crohn’s and Parkinson’s Disease-Associated LRRK2 Mutations Alter Type II Interferon Responses in Human CD14+ Blood Monocytes Ex Vivo

Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology - The Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) is one of causative genes of familial Parkinson’s disease (PD). The M2397T polymorphism in LRRK2 is genetically...     

Clinical-pathologic study of biomarkers in FTDP-17 (PPND family with N279K tau mutation)

The objective of this clinical-pathologic study was to identify biomarkers for a pallidopontonigral degeneration (PPND) kindred of frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) harboring the N279K tau mutation. Five affected subjects, one at-risk who later became symptomatic, and one at-risk asymptomatic mutation carrier, had abnormal (18)fluorodeoxyglucose PET demonstrating asymmetric temporal lobe hypometabolism. All except the asymptomatic mutation carrier had abnormal brain MRI. Parkinsonism, myoclonus, anosmia, insomnia, speech, and autonomic dysfunction were identified. Autopsy of six affected subjects showed frontotemporal degeneration with extensive tauopathy. Further studies of FTDP-17 patients are needed to replicate these findings.     

Autosomal dominant parkinsonism associated with variable synuclein and tau pathology

Since the original 1995 report of a parkinsonian kindred, four individuals have been affected (mean age at onset, 65 years). All four had cardinal signs of Parkinson disease (PD) and good response to levodopa. Four autopsies showed neuronal loss and gliosis in the substantia nigra. Lewy bodies (LB) limited to brainstem nuclei were detected in one case, diffuse LB in the second, neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) without LB in the third, and neither NFT nor LB in the fourth. Genetic studies suggested linkage to the PARK8 locus on chromosome 12.     

SLC20A2 and THAP1 deletion in familial basal ganglia calcification with dystonia

Idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC) is characterized by bilateral calcification of the basal ganglia associated with a spectrum of neuropsychiatric and motor syndromes. In this study, we set out to determine the frequency of the recently identified IBGC gene SLC20A2 in 27 IBGC cases from the Mayo Clinic Florida Brain Bank using both Sanger sequencing and TaqMan copy number analysis to cover the complete spectrum of possible mutations. We identified SLC20A2 pathogenic mutations in two of the 27 cases of IBGC (7 %). Sequencing analysis identified a p.S113* nonsense mutation in SLC20A2 in one case. TaqMan copy number analysis of SLC20A2 further revealed a genomic deletion in a second case, which was part of a large previously reported Canadian IBGC family with dystonia. Subsequent whole-genome sequencing in this family revealed a 563,256-bp genomic deletion with precise breakpoints on chromosome 8 affecting multiple genes including SLC20A2 and the known dystonia-related gene THAP1. The deletion co-segregated with disease in all family members. The deletion of THAP1 in addition to SLC20A2 in the Canadian IBGC family may contribute to the severe and early onset dystonia in this family. The identification of an SLC20A2 genomic deletion in a familial form of IBGC demonstrates that reduced SLC20A2 in the absence of mutant protein is sufficient to cause neurodegeneration and that previously reported SLC20A2 mutation frequencies may be underestimated.