DOPAMINE DEFICITS IN THE BRAIN - THE NEUROCHEMICAL BASIS OF PARKINSONIAN SYMPTOMS IN AIDS

WE sought to determine whether the motor dysfunctions and neuroleptic sensitivity that can occur in patients with AIDS relates to a deficit of striatal dopamine innervation similar to that of Parkinson's diseas e. For this purpose we measured concentrations of dopamine and its maj or metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA) in caudate nucleus tissue taken post-mortem from patients with AIDS and from appropriate age-matched c ontrol subjects. Dopamine and HVA concentrations were both significant ly reduced in the AIDS group, with 20 of 34 patients exhibiting dopami ne concentrations below the control range. This finding is consistent with a loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurones, and may underlie t he motor dysfunction and neuroleptic sensitivity that can occur in AID S patients, indicating the potential value of antiparkinsonian therapy in such patients.