Background: In Parkinson’s disease (PD), neurodegeneration of dopaminergic systems leads to motor and non-motor abnormalities. Sex might influence the clinical PD phenotypes and progression. Previous molecular imaging data focused only on the nigro-striato-cortical dopamine system that appeared more preserved in women. There is still a lack of evidence on gender/sex differences in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. We aimed at assessing PD gender differences in both the dopaminergic pathways, by using a brain metabolic connectivity approach. This is based on the evidence of a significant coupling between the neurotransmission and metabolic impairments.

中文翻译：

---

帕金森病中多巴胺能神经网络的性别相关脆弱性

背景：在帕金森病 (PD) 中，多巴胺能系统的神经变性导致运动和非运动异常。性别可能会影响临床 PD 表型和进展。以前的分子成像数据只关注在女性中保存得更好的黑质-纹状体-皮质多巴胺系统。仍然缺乏关于中脑边缘多巴胺能系统性别/性别差异的证据。我们旨在通过使用大脑代谢连接方法评估多巴胺能通路中 PD 的性别差异。这是基于神经传递和代谢障碍之间显着耦合的证据。