GLUTAMINE-SYNTHETASE ACTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSONS-DISEASE

According to current concepts, the excitatory amino acid glutamate is involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Overactivity of glutamatergic projection neurons and beneficial effect of antiglut amatergic substances in animal experiments suggest that excess supply of glutamate might contribute to the pathophysiology of PD. Reduced ac tivity of the glutamate metabolizing enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS) leads to decreased uptake of glutamate and thus abundant glutamate. He re we report that PD patients and age-matched controls are comparable with respect to GS activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM C). These results imply no systemic dysregulation of the enzyme GS in patients with PD.