Apomorphine Effect on Nociceptive Perception in Parkinson's: a Clinical and Imaging Study

Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) frequently experienced painful sensations. We suppose that painful symptoms could be related to the neurotransmitter deficit of PD. So, we would like to evaluate the involvement of dopaminergic system in nociceptive processing in PD patients. The objectives of this study is to assess and to compare the effect of a dopamine agonist administration on the nociceptive threshold and on the cerebral activity using positrons emission tomography (PET scan) in two groups of PD patients (in 16 painful PD patients and in 16 pain free PD patients). We hypothesise that dopamine agonist could normalise nociceptive threshold and cerebral activity which were both abnormal in PD patients. Moreover, we think that painful PD patients could be more improved by dopamine agonist than pain free PD patients.