Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0030567 (Parkinson's disease)
 63,064 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have determined the erythrocyte membrane uptake of the monoamine precursors L-tyrosine (L-TYR) and L-tryptophane (L-TRYP) in 72 patients with schizophrenia: 21 without neuroleptic treatment and not depressed, 15 with neuroleptic treatment and depressed, 33 without neuroleptic treatment, 27 depressed, compared to: 59 control subjects, and 54 depressed patients. We found that the ratio of L-TYR facilitated membrane diffusion to that of L-TRYP is: decreased when the patients are depressed, increased when they are untreated. When untreated patients receive neuroleptics and are depressed, the ratio tends to equal that of depressed patients'. The meaning of these anomalies is analysed, using our up-to-date knowledge of the erythrocytes's role in uptaking and dispatching the human body amino-acids, and of the role of these uptakes in regulating the functional monoamine balance. We postulate that in depressions, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia, a change of membrane fluidity occurs, being decreased in depressions and Parkinsons's disease, and increased in schizophrenia.
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PMID:[Erythrocyte membrane transports of monoamine precursor amino acids in schizophrenia]. 204 99

Two female Parkinsonian patients with levodopa-induced "On-Off" responded dramatically to administration of L-tryptophan supplementation. This report highlights the role of serotonergic deficiency in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease and of levodopa-induced motor fluctuations, and suggests that L-tryptophan supplementation may be useful in ameliorating motor complications of chronic levodopa therapy in the disease. The possibility that L-tryptophan supplementation with initiation of levodopa therapy may be useful in preventing levodopa-induced motor complications is discussed.
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PMID:L-tryptophan supplementation in Parkinson's disease. 274 62

Depressive mood is frequently associated with Parkinson's syndrome, but it may also occur as a precursor of this disease. As regards the subtypes of Parkinson's disease, the frequency of depressive states is significantly higher in the type dominated by akinesia and rigidity than in the type dominated by tremor. On the basis of biochemical changes, certain aspects of the depression can be successfully treated by substitution therapy: L-dopa medication may increase the reduced dopamine values in the striatum, thereby improving drive. Substitution with L-tryptophan raises the lowered serotonin values in the reticular formation, which may influence sleep disturbances. The changes of basic mood, however, which are characteristic of depression, such as cheerlessness and apathy, are the dopamine of antidepressive medication; only these drugs can re-establish the biochemical balance to a large extent.
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PMID:[Depression and Parkinson syndrome]. 287 39

A procedure is described for the rapid determination of the major indoles and catechols. Analysis with picogram detection limits was done by high-pressure liquid chromatography on a C18 reverse-phase column using electrochemical detection (LCEC). This method provides a comprehensive list of compounds which can be simultaneously determined in brain samples and for which there is no necessity of derivatization or pre-column purification. The regional distribution of 9 neurochemicals from rat brain and the levels of 10 neurochemicals from human brain are presented. DOPA, TYR, NE, MHPG, DOPAC, 5-HIAA, TRP, DA, HVA, 3-MT and 5-HT were detected in the caudate nucleus and putamen. The levels of neurochemicals from the caudate and putamen of a demented patient with Parkinson's disease were variably decreased; catechol and indole losses were greatest in the putamen. The levels of neurochemicals in the caudate and putamen of patients with Alzheimer's disease (SDAT) were also variably decreased; loss of NE was seen only in putamen and losses of DA, HVA and 5-HT were uniform across both caudate and putamen. The CSF of SDAT patients showed changes in NE only.
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PMID:Determination of tyrosine, tryptophan and their metabolic derivatives by liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection: application to post mortem samples from patients with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. 396 72

Thirty-four patients with advanced Parkinson's disease showing intolerance to therapeutic doses of L-DOPA were treated with L-DOPA plus carbidopa at two different proportions. Ten patients preferred medication containing 10% carbidopa while 24 preferred 25% carbidopa. The increase of carbidopa reduced gastrointestinal disturbances and psychiatric side effects related to L-DOPA, but improvement of disability when measured according to objective tests was modest. Higher doses of carbidopa reduced peripheral DOPA metabolism and increased blood levels of tryptophan, 3-OM-DOPA and DOPA in relation to the administered dose.
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PMID:Carbidopa dosage modifies L-dopa induced side effects and blood levels of L-dopa and other amino acids in advanced parkinsonism. 408 17

The rates of synthesis of serotonin, acetylcholine, and, under certain circumstances, dopamine and norepinephrine by brain neurons depend considerably on the availability to brain of the respective dietary precursors. This precursor dependence seems to be related to the fact that the enzyme catalyzing the rate-limiting step in the synthetic pathway for each transmitter is unsaturated with substrate at normal brain concentrations. Moreover, brain levels of the individual precursors rise following oral or parenteral administration of the pure compound or the ingestion of certain foods. Precursor-induced increases in brain transmitter formation seem to influence a variety of brain functions and behaviors, which suggests that transmitter release has been enhanced. It now appears that these precursors may become useful as therapeutic agents for the treatment of selected disease states, wherein the disease is related to reduced release of transmitter. Examples of Parkinson's disease (tyrosine), myasthenia gravis (choline or phosphatidylcholine), depression (tyrosine), and possibly abnormal appetite (tryptophan). Perhaps the future will bring the identification of still other neurotransmitters, whose rates of synthesis depend on precursor availability. Two potential candidates for which some information is already available are glycine (a spinal cord transmitter) and the prostaglandins (some of which may function as neuromodulators or transmitters) (48, 49). Each time a new precursor-product relationship is described, an opportunity becomes available for determining whether the precursor might be useful in treating disease states related to reduced transmitter release by neurons. The opportunities are worth exploring, since the use of a natural dietary constituent, even in purified form, is likely to produce fewer unwanted side-effects than are seen following administration of synthetic drugs.
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PMID:Dietary precursors and brain neurotransmitter formation. 611 81

Brain function can be affected by the availability of dietary precursors of neurotransmitters. This occurs because the rate-limiting synthetic enzymes are not "saturated" with substrate under normal circumstances. Tyrosine affects catecholaminergic neurons that fire rapidly, whether in the brain stem to decrease blood pressure in hypertension or in the adrenal gland to increase blood pressure in hypotension, and has been used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and depression. Choline forms acetylcholine and has been used successfully in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia and memory disorders. Tryptophan, which forms serotonin, has been used for chronic pain therapy, sleep disorders, depression, and appetite control. Although these substances may lack the potency of traditionally used agonists, they offer an increase in specificity because the enzymes necessary to convert them to neurotransmitters are found only in neurons. Precursors are also "physiological"; they are consumed as foods and, therefore, should be relatively safe therapeutic agents.
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PMID:Neurotransmitter precursors and brain function. 612 95

Catecholamines and indolealkylamines are of clinical interest in neurological and psychiatric disorders. We measured 3-methoxy-DOPA, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, tryptophan, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and homovanillic acid in human cerebrospinal fluid with a simple, sensitive , inexpensive, rapid and accurate procedure using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to an electrochemical detector. Patients with Parkinson's disease have a decrement in homovanillic acid that is reversed by treatment with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine. After this medication, 3-methoxy-DOPA is measurable in cerebrospinal fluid. Patients with depression show a decrease in serotonin turnover expressed by diminished 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid content in cerebrospinal fluid. Depressed patients also show low levels of tryptophan. Monoamine metabolites are augmented in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.
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PMID:Monoamine metabolites in human cerebrospinal fluid. HPLC/ED method. 620 98

Tyrosine and tryptophan have been assayed spectrofluorometrically in postmortem human brain areas of patients with Parkinson's disease treated orally with or without 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) plus the peripherally acting decarboxylase inhibitor benserazide. Tyrosine as well as tryptophan decrease significantly after treatment with L-dopa, thus showing a competitive action of L-dopa to other aromatic amino acids on human brain uptake. It is suggested that some of the side effects of L-dopa treatment in Parkinson's disease are due to a disturbance in the brain and neural uptake of other, specially aromatic and branched-chain amino acids. An influence of L-dopa administration on protein synthesis also cannot be excluded.
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PMID:L-dopa competes with tyrosine and tryptophan for human brain uptake. 721 1

The effect of 2 to 6 g of tryptophan per day on levodopa-induced psychiatric symptoms was tested in nine patients with Parkinson's disease in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The psychiatric disturbances were not greatly altered by administration of tryptophan.
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PMID:Treatment with tryptophan of levodopa-associated psychiatric disturbances. 735 21


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