Dopamine transporter binding in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: a [123I]FP-CIT/SPECT study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate dopamine transporter binding in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) with SPECT and [123I]FP-CIT.

METHOD: Ten neuroleptic naïve/free patients with GTS, and 10 age- and gender-matched normal volunteers were studied. Subjects were clinically evaluated. GTS severity and affective symptoms were measured and the presence of GTS-related behaviours were recorded.

RESULTS: The GTS group showed significantly higher binding in both caudate and putamen nuclei than the controls. No associations were found between striatal binding ratios and measures of affect or GTS-related behaviours.

CONCLUSION: Patients with GTS show higher striatal binding of FP-CIT to the striatum in comparison with age- and gender-matched control subjects, indicating that dopamine transporter abnormalities are involved in the pathophysiology of GTS. These abnormalities appear to be distributed across both caudate and putamen.