Genetik des essenziellen Tremors

Essential tremor (ET) is—with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 1?%—one of the commonest movement disorders. ET patients predominantly suffer from a postural and kinetic tremor of the arms which might severely impair fine motor skills. The question whether additional symptoms such as mild cognitive deficits and depression, which occur in some patients, belong to the clinical picture of ET is a matter of debate. More than 50?% of all ET patients have a positive family history. In many families ET segregates in a manner compatible with autosomal dominant transmission. Recently mutations in the fused in sarcoma (FUS) gene have been identified as one potential cause of monogenic ET. In the majority of patients ET is genetically complex. Twin studies suggest a very high heritability. Two relatively small genome-wide association studies identified risk variants in the LINGO1 gene which plays a role in neuroregeneration and in the SLC1A2 gene which encodes the most important glutamate reuptake transporter of the brain.