CEREBROSPINAL MONOAMINE METABOLITES AND AMINO-ACID CONTENT IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSONIAN-SYNDROME AND RATS LESIONED WITH MPP(+)

Monoamine metabolites and amino acid concentration in cerebrospinal fl uid (CSF) of 33 untreated patients with parkinsonian syndrome, and 20 control patients without specific neurological symptoms have been comp ared with those obtained in cerebrospinal fluid of rats intrastriatall y lesioned with 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP(+)) and sham oper ated animals. Homovanillic acid content was found to be significantly lower in patients with severe parkinsonism (motor score of UPDRS >24), but not in patients with mild symptoms (motor score less than or equa l to 24). A correlation between the loss of striatal dopamine and the decrease in cerebrospinal homovanillic acid has been established in ra ts treated with MPP(+). The extrapolation of these results to those ob tained from human patients could be important in assessing the degree of striatal dopamine loss shown by humans with parkinsonian syndrome a t the moment of clinical diagnosis. No significant differences were fo und between the other monoamine metabolites analyzed and free amino ac id content in human and rat CSF.