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CompletedNCT01565473Updated Dec 2, 2014

PET Study of Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson Disease

An observational study in Parkinson Disease, sponsored by University of Michigan. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 50 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2014-12-02.

Sponsored by University of Michigan · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Case-control
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
242
Ages
50 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

This research plan is focused on neurochemical positron emission tomography (PET) studies of Parkinson disease (PD). PD is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, and considerable progress has been made in understanding and treating the "typical" movement abnormalities of resting tremor, bradykinesia and rigidity. These cardinal PD features are all initially responsive to dopamine replacement therapy, and have been investigated intensively with respect to their relationships to degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopamine projection. More recently, increased attention has focused on the "non-motor" clinical aspects of PD, including cognitive, mood, chronobiological and peripheral autonomic defects. These clinical features are less reliably affected by dopaminergic therapy, and are likely to be associated with other, non-dopaminergic neural degenerations. Indeed, detailed postmortem assessments of PD brain reveal substantial neuronal losses in a variety of chemically-defined neurons, including brainstem serotonin and norepinephrine neurons and basal forebrain cholinergic neurons. Projects in the proposal will focus on dementia, depression, sleep-apnea and dysautonomia in PD patients, employing PET measures of presynaptic dopaminergic, serotoninergic and cholinergic CNS neurons and of peripheral sympathetic neurons. Results of the investigations may identify associations of non-motor PD signs and symptoms with the non-dopaminergic neuronal losses. These findings will establish additional therapeutic targets for symptomatic, but also for potential neuroprotective PD therapies. In addition, a majority of patients will be characterized with all 3 CNS PET measures. The availability of multiple markers of distinct neuronal populations involved in PD neurodegeneration will permit exploratory analyses to assess whether the degenerations are correlated (possibly manifestations of a common pathophysiology) or apparently independent (possibly a manifestation of multiple PD subtypes or pathophysiologies). Ultimately, better understanding of these non-motor features will be essential to developing future treatments that address the entire PD patient.

Read the detailed description

Participating subjects may be eligible for one or more of the sub-projects that may have a focus on cognition, mood, sleep or autonomic symptoms.

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Conditions studied

  • Parkinson Disease

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Keywords

  • non-motor symptoms
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In context

Parkinson Disease

4,484 studies on the registry are indexed under Parkinson Disease; 1,081 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 242 is above the median of 96 across 1,056 observational studies indexed under Parkinson Disease.

Browse Parkinson Disease studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Michigan is the lead sponsor of 1,475 studies on the registry; 196 are open to participants now.

Of its 162 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 128 (79%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
50 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Movement Disorders Clinic, Hospital, Primary Care, Community

Inclusion criteria

  • age 50 and above (40 for Normal Control population)
  • diagnosed with PD
  • Hoehn \& Yahr 1-4,

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • other disorders which may resemble PD
  • unstable medical conditions
  • significant neurological or psychiatric disorders
  • taking certain medications such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, neuroleptics, psychostimulants, tricyclic antidepressants,
  • contraindication to MRI (pacemakers, metal in eye, etc)
  • recent exposure to significant amount of ionizing radiation
  • pregnancy
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Study design

Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
242 participants (actual)
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna

Groups and cohorts

  • Parkinson disease patients
  • Healthy normal controls
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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To asses the non-motor aspects of PD

    The non-motor aspects that were studied included, sleep disorders, depression, memory, and autonomic system symptom.

    Time frame: at initial visit and at 2 years for memory (PIB) and autonomic system symptoms (DTBZ and HED)

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Study locations

1 site
  • University of Michigan Health System
    Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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References and documents

Publications

  • Zhou Z, Muller MLTM, Kanel P, Chua J, Kotagal V, Kaufer DI, Albin RL, Frey KA, Bohnen NI. Apathy rating scores and beta-amyloidopathy in patients with Parkinson disease at risk for cognitive decline. Neurology. 2020 Jan 28;94(4):e376-e383. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000008683. Epub 2019 Nov 15. PubMed 31732566 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 2, 2014, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01565473
Lead sponsor
University of Michigan
Responsible party
Nicolaas Bohnen, MD, PhD (M.D., Ph.D., University of Michigan) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 28, 2012
Start date
Sep 2008
Primary completion
Jul 2014
Completion
Jul 2014
Last update
Dec 2, 2014

Study contacts

Nicolaas Bohnen, M.D., Ph.D.
study director · University of Michigan
Kirk Frey, M.D., Ph.D.
principal investigator · University of Michigan

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Dec 2014. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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