Yoshikazu Nakano, Shigeki Hirano, Mitsuyoshi Tamura, Yume Koizumi, Yoshihisa Kitayama, Michiko Izumi, Masahide Suzuki, Kosuke Yamagishi, Yutaro Suzuki, Shinobu Ikeda, Ayaka Arase, Tatsuya Yamamoto, Yoshitaka Yamanaka, Atsuhiko Sugiyama, Kazumoto Shibuya, Takuro Horikoshi, Takashi Uno, David Eidelberg, Satoshi Kuwabara
Scientific reports 15(1) 8056-8056 2025年3月7日
Rigidity, a cardinal symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), remains challenging to assess objectively. A torque-angle instrument was developed to quantify muscle tone, providing two parameters: bias difference and elastic coefficient. This study aimed to investigate the association of the instrument-measured rigidity with clinical assessments and brain function. In 30 patients with PD, the muscle tone in both arms was evaluated. Ten with wearing-off phenomenon were assessed twice, off and on condition. Twentynine patients underwent brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and expression of PD-related covariance pattern (PDRP) was computed. Bias difference and elastic coefficient showed positive correlations with physician-rated rigidity (P < 0.002). Bias difference decreased after dopaminergic medication (P = 0.022) and was associated with lower body mass index (P = 0.012). Elastic coefficient positively correlated with the Unified PD Rating Scale Part III and PDRP scores (P < 0.044). Furthermore, the higher bias difference correlated with decreased sensory-motor cortex and increased substantia nigra perfusion (P < 0.001). The Torque-angle instrument is a viable tool for quantifying rigidity in PD. The bias difference reflects treatment responsiveness and is associated with the function in the sensory-motor cortex and substantia nigra. The elastic coefficient is indicative of overall Parkinsonism severity.