Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a clinicopathological entity distinct
from idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) that is responsible for 5-10
% of cases of parkinsonism. Degeneration of nigral neurones is a featu
re of both diseases. A specific deficiency of mitochondrial complex I
activity has been found in PD substantia nigra. We have analysed mitoc
hondrial function in substantia nigra and platelets from MSA patients
to identify any respiratory chain defect in this disorder and to deter
mine its tissue specificity. As our MSA patients had been on L-DOPA, w
e also sought to establish whether this treatment could cause the comp
lex I defect as seen in PD. We found no significant difference in resp
iratory chain activity corrected for mitochondrial mass between contro
l and MSA patients in either of the tissues studied. These results pro
vide a biochemical dimension to the differences between MSA and idiopa
thic PD. In addition, the fact that L-DOPA failed to induce a complex
I defect in MSA substantia nigra suggests that this treatment is unlik
ely to cause the complex I deficiency in PD, without additional factor
s that may operate in PD.