Dopamine Transporter Availability in Early Parkinson's Disease is Dependent on Sunlight Exposure

Background: Preliminary studies suggested seasonality of dopaminergic functioning, but it is unknown whether dopamine transporter (DAT) expression in humans is also dependent on the seasons. We, therefore, investigated seasonal and sunlight-dependent effects on DAT availability in early Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and healthy controls. Methods: DAT single-photon emission computed tomography scans (n = 730) were gathered from the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI) database. We used global horizontal irradiance (GHI) as proxy for sun exposure/month and assessed associations between striatal DAT availability and season (autumn/winter versus spring/summer), GHI and latitude of the PPMI site. Results: In PD patients, DAT availability in the left caudate nucleus was higher in spring/summer (B [standard error (SE)] = 0.05 [0.02], P = 0.03) and positively associated with higher sun exposure (B [SE] = 0.59 [0.22] × 10 ⁻³, P = 0.007). Latitude (in degrees north) of the PPMI site was negatively associated with DAT availability in both PD and healthy controls. Conclusion: Striatal DAT availability may be influenced by daylight exposure.