INCREASED CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID CONCENTRATION OF NITRITE IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE

THE concentration of nitrite, a metabolite of nitric oxide (NO), was i ncreased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of untreated patients with P arkinson's disease and in patients treated with L-DOPA in comparison w ith a group of patients without dopaminergic dysfunction. There was no difference in the concentration of L-arginine (ARG), a precursor of N O, between the groups. There was a highly significant, linear relation ship between the concentration of nitrite and ARG in the CSF suggestin g that the production of NO is dependent on the availability of ARG. T he results support the possibility thatproduction of NO is increased i n the brain in Parkinson's disease.