Cerebrospinal fluid selenium and chromium levels in patients with Parkinson's disease

We compared CSF and serum levels of selenium and chromium, measured by atom ic absorption spectrophotometry, in 28 patients with Parkinson's disease (P D) and 43 matched controls. The CSF and serum levels of these trace metals did not differ significantly between PD patients and controls. CSF selenium and chromium levels were not correlated with age, age at onset? duration o f the disease, scores of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale of the Hoehn and Yahr staging in the PD group. Although antiparkinsonian therapy d id not influence significantly the CSF levels of selenium, PD patients not treated with levodopa had significantly higher CSF selenium levels than con trols (p < 0.01). It is possible that increased CSF selenium levels could i ndicate an attempt of protection against oxidative stress. The normality of CSF and serum chromium levels suggest that these values are not related wi th the risk for PD.