CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID LEVELS OF TRANSITION-METALS IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSONS-DISEASE

We compared CSF and serum levels of iron, copper, manganese, and zinc, measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, in 37 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 37 matched controls. The CSF levels of zi nc were significantly decreased in PD patients as compared with contro ls (p < 0.05). The serum levels of zinc, and the CSF and serum levels of iron, copper, and manganese, did not differ significantly between P D-patient and control groups. There was no influence of antiparkinsoni an therapy on CSF levels of none of these transition metals. These val ues were not correlated with age, age at onset, duration of the diseas e, scores of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale of the Hoehn a nd Yahr staging in the PD group, with the exception of CSF copper leve ls with the duration of the disease (r = 0.38, p < 0.05). These result s suggest that low CSF zinc concentrations might be related with the r isk for PD, although they could be related with oxidative stress proce sses.