Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0040822 (tremor)
 18,428 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Parkinsonism plus syndrome is a group of heterogeneous degenerative neurological disorders, which differ from the classical idiopathic Parkinson's disease in certain associated clinical features, poor response to levodopa, distinctive pathological characteristics and poor prognosis. Associated clinical features include symmetrical onset, infrequent or atypical tremor, prominent rigidity in axial musculature, bradykinesia, early postural instability, supranuclear gaze palsy, early autonomic failure, pyramidal affection, cerebellar involvement, alien limb phenomenon, apraxia and significant early cognitive dysfunction in some cases. Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA) and dementia with Lewy body disease (DLB) are commoner disorders. Less frequent disorders are cortico-basal ganglionic degeneration (CBGD), frontotemporal dementia with chromosome 17 (FTDP-17), Pick's disease, parkinsonian-dementia complex of Guam, Pallidonigral degeneration, Wilson's disease and a rigid variant of Huntington's disease. During the last 3 decades, major progress has been made in understanding PSP, CBGD and FTDP-17, which are tau disorders. MSA and DLB together with idiopathic Parkinson's disease are called alpha-synucleinopathies. Recent studies show that the diagnosis of these Parkinsonism plus syndromes improves when strict diagnostic criteria are used. However, unusual presentations may pose a diagnostic challenge. The shortcomings of the current studies demand the need for further research to identify biologic markers that may allow earlier diagnosis, and understanding of the factors leading to alpha-synuclein or tau aggregation. Identification of therapeutic strategies that may prevent the aggregation of these proteins and rescue dysfunctional cells has been stressed. This review focuses on the advances in the clinical, neuroimaging, pathologic, genetic and management aspects of these disorders.
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PMID:Parkinsonism plus syndrome--a review. 1457 Sep 99

We report a Japanese man with familial parkinsonism who died at age 54. His younger brother, his mother, the mother's 4 brothers, and their mother were also affected with similar parkinsonism. The patient had had nystagmus since adolescence. He noticed difficulty in walking and micrographia at age 42. Neurological examination at age 45 in our hospital revealed pendular nystagmus, moderate rigidity in his neck and upper limbs, postural tremor in hands and shuffling gait. He received L-dopa/benzerazide 200 mg and his movement was mildly improved. Then he developed forced closing of eyelids suggesting either blepharospasms or apraxia of eye lid opening. He became apathetic at age 48. He was admitted to our hospital at age 49. On admission, he showed mild dementia and sexually disinhibited behaviours. Moderate downward gaze palsy and rigidity were seen. Increase of L-dopa/benzerazide and pergolide did not improve his parkinsonism and his disinhibited behaviors became worse. L-dopa/benzerazide and pergolide were decreased and he received electroconvulsive therapy at a psychiatric hospital with temporally improvement in his movement. He became unable to walk at age 52 and he was mutic and bedridden. He died of pneumonia at age 54. The patient was discussed in a neurological CPC, and a chief discussant arrived at the conclusion that the patient had a familial form of dementia with Lewy bodies. Many participants thought that he had frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17. The pathological examination of his brain showed severe neuronal loss in the substantia nigra, subthalamus, and pallidum. Ballooned neurons were observed in the cerebral cortex. Immunohistochemistry using anti-tau antibodies revealed tau-positive neurons, glial cells and threads in the cerebral cortex, white matter and subcortical nuclei; these tau deposition reacted with an anti-4-repeat tau antibody, but not reacted to an anti-3-repeat tau antibody. Sequencing of genomic DNA of the patient showed a missense mutation in exon 10 of tau that caused a substitution at codon N279K. These neuropathological and molecular studies revealed the diagnosis of the patient was FTDP-17 with N279K mutation.
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PMID:[A 54-year-old man with familial parkinsonism, gaze palsy, and dementia]. 1637 98