Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Assessment of Dopaminergic Homeostasis in Mice by Use of High-performance Liquid Chromatography Analysis and Synaptosomal Dopamine Uptake
Published on: September 21, 2017
Dopamine transporter SPECT in patients with mitochondrial disorders
M Minnerop1, C Kornblum, A Y Joe
1Department of Neurology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, Bonn 53105, Germany.
Background:
Mitochondrial disorders may affect basal ganglia function. In addition, decreased activity of complex I of the mitochondrial electron transport chain has been linked to the pathogenesis of dopaminergic cell loss in Parkinson's disease. Objective : To investigate the dopaminergic system in patients with known mitochondrial disorders and complex I deficiency.
Methods:
Dopamine transporter density was studied in 10 female patients with mitochondrial complex I deficiency by (123)I-FP-CIT (N-beta-fluoropropyl-2beta-carbomethyl-3beta-(4-iodophenyl)-nortropane) SPECT.
Results:
No differences in (123)I-FP-CIT striatal binding ratios were observed and no correlation of the degree of complex I deficiency and striatal binding ratios could be detected.
Conclusions:
These data argue against the possibility that mitochondrial complex I deficiency by itself is sufficient to elicit dopaminergic cell loss.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Significance of Membrane Transport
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
ATP Synthase: Mechanism
The ADP/ATP Carrier Protein

