Normal Striatal Vesicular Acetylcholine Transporter Expression in Tourette Syndrome

Considerable prior work suggests basal ganglia dysfunction in Tourette syndrome (TS). Analysis of a small number of postmortem specimens suggests deficits of some striatal interneuron populations, including striatal cholinergic interneurons. To assess the integrity of striatal cholinergic interneurons in TS, we used [¹⁸F]FEOBV positron emission tomography (PET) to quantify striatal vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) expression, a measure of cholinergic terminal density, in human TS and control subjects. We found no evidence of striatal cholinergic deficits. Discrepant imaging and postmortem analysis results may reflect agonal or postmortem changes, medication effects, or significant disease heterogeneity.