Sleep problems can be seen in patients with Parkinson's disease. Can it be about serotonin?
In mice, ablation of the raphe and no production serotonin increases wakefulness and impairs the homeostatic response to sleep deprivation.(DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.038)
Even in the absence of depression, the CSF levels of 5-I-HAA of patients with Parkinson’s disease are lower than those of age-matched controls.
( DOI: 10.1176/jnp.2.1.88 )
PD is associated with 'N' number of non-motor symptoms (NMS) such as cognitive loss, sleep disorders, depression, chronic fatigue, dysosmia and autonomic dysfunction. Among all these NMS, sleep disturbances are the vital aspect of PD in view of their influence on disease progression and symptomatic manifestation. However, mechanisms involving the pathophysiology and increase occurrence of sleep disturbances in PD remain poorly understood. One earlier report advocated that PD’s stages is associated with the Lewy body pathology to the raphe nucleus which is the prime supply of serotonin neurotransmitter (doi: 10.1016/s0197-4580(02)00065-9). Several clinical reports also suggested that PD patient’s brain is associated with around 50% loss of serotonergic neurons (doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(90)90733-r). Also there was a strong correlation of PD with that of down regulation SERT. These are all established references to draw lines towards prediction of PD with non-motor symptoms.
Nice topic Belemir Uzun !
Although the direct/indirect pathway of basal ganglia and dysfunction in the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta is one major determinant and cause of PD, interrelation of different projections from many different regions and nuclei through various neurotransmitters or neuromodulatatory means may aggravate the motor difficulties in PD patients.
DRN as a source of 5HT has a widespread plexus of fibers extended to and from motor cortex and SNc and habenula and more importantly there is a feedforward inhibition in DRN through GABA on 5HT. The importance of disruption of TH-ir neurons in substantia nigra pars reticulata however will be displayed in a non-motor disruption of sleep relevant to the mentioned circuitry.
Please also check the following paper for a better perspective:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37657-6
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Neuroscience