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2.
Eur J Neurol ; 6(4): 495-7, 1999 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10362906

ABSTRACT

To elucidate the possible role of carotenoids and vitamin A as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD), we compared serum levels of beta-carotene and alpha-carotene, and vitamin A, measured by isocratic high performance liquid chromatography, of 38 AD patients and 42 controls. The serum levels of alpha-carotene did not differ significantly between AD patients and control groups. However, the serum levels of beta-carotene and vitamin A were significantly lower in the AD-patient group. These values did not correlate to age, age at onset or score on the MiniMental State Examination. Weight and body mass index were significantly lower in AD patients than in controls. These results suggest that low serum beta-carotene concentrations in AD patients could be related to a deficiency in dietary intake of this provitamin, although its possible relationship with risk for AD could not be excluded.


Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/blood , Antioxidants/metabolism , Carotenoids/blood , Vitamin A/blood , beta Carotene/blood , Aged , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Female , Humans , Male , Reference Values , Risk Factors
3.
Acta Neurol Scand ; 99(5): 315-7, 1999 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10348162

ABSTRACT

To elucidate whether serum alpha and beta-carotene and retinol levels are related with the risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we compared serum levels of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and retinol (vitamin A), measured by HPLC, in 40 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 87 matched controls using an isocratic high performance liquid chromatography technique. The mean serum alpha and beta-carotene, and retinol levels did not differ significantly between the 2 study groups. These values were not influenced by the clinical form (spinal vs bulbar) of ALS, and they did not correlate with age, age at onset, and duration of the disease. These results suggest that serum alpha and beta-carotene and retinol concentrations are unrelated with the risk for ALS.


Subject(s)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/physiopathology , Antioxidants/analysis , Carotenoids/blood , Vitamin A/blood , beta Carotene/blood , Adult , Aged , Case-Control Studies , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Risk Factors
5.
Eur Neurol ; 41(1): 44-7, 1999 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9885328

ABSTRACT

It has been suggested that nitric oxide (NO) could be implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Recently, two groups reported increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) nitrate levels (oxidation product that provides an indirect estimation of NO) in MS patients. However, another group did not confirm these findings. We studied the CSF and plasma levels of nitrate with a kinetic cadmium reduction method in 11 MS patients and 25 matched controls. The CSF nitrate levels and the CSF/plasma nitrate ratio did not differ significantly between the two study groups. Plasma nitrate levels were nearly significantly lower in MS patients. CSF and plasma nitrate levels did not correlate with age at onset and duration of the disease in the patient group. These data suggest that measurement of CSF levels of nitrate is not a marker of the activity of MS.


Subject(s)
Multiple Sclerosis/cerebrospinal fluid , Nitrates/cerebrospinal fluid , Adult , Age of Onset , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Multiple Sclerosis/blood , Multiple Sclerosis/epidemiology , Nitrates/blood
6.
Neurosci Lett ; 249(1): 65-7, 1998 Jun 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9672390

ABSTRACT

We compared cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum levels, and the CSF/serum ratio of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E), measured by HPLC, in 36 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 32 matched controls. The mean CSF vitamin E levels and the CSF/serum vitamin E ratio did not differ significantly between the two study groups. The serum levels of vitamin E and the serum vitamin E/cholesterol ratio were significantly lower in MS patients when compared with controls (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). These values were not correlated with age, age at onset and duration of the disease in the patients group. These results suggest that CSF vitamin E concentrations are not a marker of activity of MS activity.


Subject(s)
Multiple Sclerosis/cerebrospinal fluid , Vitamin E/cerebrospinal fluid , Adult , Biomarkers/blood , Biomarkers/cerebrospinal fluid , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Female , Humans , Male , Multiple Sclerosis/blood , Vitamin E/blood
7.
J Neural Transm (Vienna) ; 105(2-3): 269-77, 1998.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9660105

ABSTRACT

We measured the CSF and plasma levels of glutamate, glutamine, aspartate (only in plasma), asparagine, glutamine, glycine and GABA in 37 patients with Alzheimer's disease and in 32 matched controls. We used an ion-exchange chromatography method. When compared to controls, AD patients had higher CSF glutamate and glycine levels, higher plasma levels of aspartate and glycine, and lower plasma levels of asparagine and GABA. When expressed relative to CSF proteins, CSF levels of glutamate and glycine remained higher, and CSF asparagine levels were lower in AD patients than in controls. The CSF levels of the amino acids measured were not correlated with the clinical features of AD with the exception of plasma GABA levels with duration of the disease. Our results might suggest a possible pathogenetic role of neurotransmitter amino acids in AD.


Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/cerebrospinal fluid , Neurotransmitter Agents/cerebrospinal fluid , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
8.
J Neurol Sci ; 155(1): 92-4, 1998 Feb 18.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9562329

ABSTRACT

We measured CSF and plasma levels of cGMP in 22 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and in 28 age and sex-matched controls. PD patients had similar plasma cGMP levels than those of controls, although they showed a non-significant trend towards higher CSF cGMP levels (P=0.07). PD patients treated with levodopa showed significantly higher CSF cGMP levels than those not treated with this drug (P<0.01), and controls (P<0.01). However, treatment with dopamine agonists did not influence CSF cGMP levels. Plasma and CSF levels of cGMP did not correlate with age at onset, duration, and severity of PD. These results suggest that changes in the concentration of cGMP in CSF of patients with PD are not related with the disease, but rather with levodopa therapy.


Subject(s)
Cyclic GMP/cerebrospinal fluid , Parkinson Disease/cerebrospinal fluid , Aged , Cyclic GMP/blood , Dopamine Agonists/therapeutic use , Female , Humans , Levodopa/therapeutic use , Male , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/blood , Parkinson Disease/drug therapy , Selegiline/therapeutic use
9.
J Voice ; 12(4): 444-52, 1998 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9988031

ABSTRACT

To quantify several acoustic features of the voice in patients with essential tremor (ET), 28 patients and 28 age- and sex-matched controls were studied. ET severity was assessed with the rating scale for tremor of Fahn, Tolosa, and Marín. The Computerized Speech Lab 4300 program (Kay Elemetrics) was used. Two-second samples of a sustained /a/ and a sentence were captured with a microphone and laryngograph equipment. Measures included fundamental frequency (F0), frequency perturbation (jitter, Koike algorithm), intensity perturbation (shimmer, Horii algorithm), and harmonic-to-noise ratio (H/N, Yumoto algorithm) of the vowel /a/, and the frequency and intensity variability of the sentence, phonational range, and dynamic range at the natural frequency, maximum phonational time, and s/z ratio. All subjects underwent indirect laryngoscopy and/or laryngeal fibroscopy. When compared with controls, ET patients showed higher jitter, lower H/N ratio (the last one only with laryngographic signal), of the vowel /a/, lower frequency variability in the microphonic signal, lower intensity variability in the laryngographic signal of the sentence, and significantly lower dynamic range at natural frequency of phonation. ET patients reported higher frequency of the presence of high voice intensity, tremor, and struggle. Several acoustic parameters were influenced by the severity of the disease, including shimmer, jitter, H/N ratio, frequency variability of the sentence, and s/z ratio, although neither of the acoustic analysis values or the phonetometric measurements were affected by the presence of voice tremor or by a successful pharmacological treatment of ET.


Subject(s)
Speech Acoustics , Tremor/complications , Voice Disorders/complications , Voice Disorders/diagnosis , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Phonetics , Time Factors , Voice Quality
10.
Eur J Neurol ; 5(6): 613-614, 1998 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10210898

ABSTRACT

Primary writing tremor is a task-specific tremor that is considered to be unilateral. We report a 59-year-old man with a 5-year history of a typical primary writing tremor in the right hand who developed similar symptoms in the left hand. Copyright 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

11.
Parkinsonism Relat Disord ; 4(3): 137-42, 1998 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18591103

ABSTRACT

Some investigators have reported that patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) tend to lose weight, and have a low body mass index. For this reason, it was suggested that PD patients have an increased metabolic rate. Using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) we determined, the body composition in 52 unselected PD patients (28 males, 24 females) and in 80 age and sex-matched healthy controls (40 males, 40 females). The mean+/-SD duration of PD was 5.9+/-4.8 years. PD severity was assesed with the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) and Hoehn & Yahr staging. PD patients and controls did not differ significantly in height, weight and body mass index. The total fat and percentage of fat were significantly higher (p<0.01) and the lean body mass and water content were lower (p<0.001 for each) in male PD patients when compared with male controls. All these values were similar in female PD patients and female controls. Fat mass, lean body mass and water content did not correlate with the UPDRS scores and Hoehn &Yahr staging, although PD patients with higher UPDRS scores had higher percentage of fat.

12.
J Neurol Sci ; 150(2): 123-7, 1997 Sep 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9268238

ABSTRACT

We measured the CSF levels of 21, and the plasma levels of 26, amino acids in 31 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and in 45 matched controls. We used an ion-exchange chromatography method. When compared to controls, PD patients had lower CSF levels of taurine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, ethanolamine, citrulline, ornithine, lysine, histidine, arginine, and alpha-aminobutyric acid. PD patients not treated with levodopa or with dopamine agonists had higher CSF tyrosine and phenylalanine levels than those not treated with these drugs and also than controls. PD patients had higher plasma levels of phosphoserine, threonine, methionine, tyrosine, sarcosine and alpha-aminoadipic acid, and lower plasma levels of valine, leucine, and tryptophan, than controls. The CSF/plasma ratio of many of these amino acids was significantly lower in PD patients than those of controls, suggesting that PD patients might have a dysfunction in the transport of neutral and basic amino acids across the blood-brain barrier.


Subject(s)
Amino Acids/cerebrospinal fluid , Parkinson Disease/cerebrospinal fluid , Adult , Aged , Amino Acids/classification , Antiparkinson Agents/therapeutic use , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/drug therapy , Reference Values
14.
Neurology ; 48(3): 636-8, 1997 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9065539

ABSTRACT

We studied respiratory chain enzyme activities in lymphocyte mitochondria from 33 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and from 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The respiratory chain enzyme activities did not differ significantly between patients and controls. No patient showed any value for respiratory chain enzyme levels below normal range. Values for activities of complexes in the AD group did not correlate with age at onset or duration of the disease. Our finding of normal mitochondrial function in lymphocyte mitochondria suggests that this tissue cannot be used to demonstrate the involvement of oxidative phosphorylation in AD and, thus, to develop a diagnostic test for AD.


Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/enzymology , Lymphocytes/enzymology , Mitochondria/enzymology , Aged , Electron Transport/physiology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged
15.
J Neurol Sci ; 145(2): 183-5, 1997 Feb 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9094047

ABSTRACT

We assessed free carnitine (FC) and acyl-carnitine esters (AC) in both CSF and plasma from 29 patients with diagnostic criteria for PD, and from 29 healthy matched-controls. FC and AC levels in both CSF and plasma did not differ significantly between PD patients and controls, they were not influenced significantly by anti-parkinsonian drugs, and did not correlate with age at onset, duration and severity of PD. These results suggest that CSF carnitine levels are apparently unrelated with the risk for PD.


Subject(s)
Carnitine/cerebrospinal fluid , Parkinson Disease/cerebrospinal fluid , Acylation , Aged , Antiparkinson Agents/therapeutic use , Carnitine/blood , Female , Humans , Levodopa/therapeutic use , Male , Middle Aged , Oxidative Stress/physiology , Parkinson Disease/blood , Parkinson Disease/drug therapy , Reference Standards , Selegiline/therapeutic use
16.
Eur Neurol ; 38(2): 99-104, 1997.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9286632

ABSTRACT

Recent reports have shown an association between cytochrome P450IID6 (CYP2D6) polymorphism and Parkinson's disease. We investigated the association between this polymorphism and the risk for developing essential tremor (ET). Leukocytic DNA from 91 unrelated ET patients and a control group of 258 unrelated healthy individuals was studied for the occurrence of eight different CYP2D6 allelic variants by using allele-specific PCR amplification Xbal and EcoRI-RFLP's analyses. The prevalence for these allelic variants in the ET and control groups were, respectively: CYP2D6*1 76.9 and 78.7%, CYP2D6*2 0.5 and 0.2%, CYP2D6*3 0 and 1%, CYP2D6*4 12.1 and 12.2%, CYP2D6*5 1.6 and 1.7%, CYP2D6*9 4.4 and 2.9%, CYP2D6*2x2 4.4 and 3.2%. The prevalence of subjects with absent CYP2D6 activity (those carrying two defect genes) was 1.1 and 3.1% in ET and control groups, respectively. Both groups studied were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These results indicate that mutations at the CYP2D6 gene do not seem to be a major factor in determining susceptibility to ET, and reinforces the view that ET and parkinsonism are distinct conditions.


Subject(s)
Cytochrome P-450 CYP2D6/genetics , Parkinson Disease/genetics , Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics , Tremor/genetics , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alleles , DNA Mutational Analysis , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/diagnosis , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Risk Factors , Tremor/diagnosis
17.
J Neural Transm (Vienna) ; 104(11-12): 1287-93, 1997.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9503274

ABSTRACT

We compared CSF and serum levels, and the CSF/serum ratio of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E), measured by HPLC, in 34 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 47 controls. CSF and serum vitamin E levels were correlate. The mean CSF and serum vitamin E levels, and the CSF/serum ratio of PD patients did not differ significantly between the groups. There was no influence of antiparkinsonian therapy on CSF vitamin E levels. CSF vitamin E levels did not correlate with age, age at onset, duration of the disease, scores of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale of the Hoehn and Yahr staging in the PD group. These results suggest that CSF vitamin E concentrations are unrelated with the risk for PD.


Subject(s)
Parkinson Disease/cerebrospinal fluid , Vitamin E/cerebrospinal fluid , Aged , Antiparkinson Agents/adverse effects , Antiparkinson Agents/therapeutic use , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/drug therapy , Reference Values , Vitamin E/blood
18.
J Neural Transm (Vienna) ; 104(6-7): 703-10, 1997.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9444569

ABSTRACT

We compared CSF and serum levels, and the CST/serum ratio of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E), measured by HPLC, in 44 apparently well-nourished patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 37 matched controls. CSF and serum vitamin E levels were correlated, both in AD patients and in controls. The mean CSF and serum vitamin E levels were significantly lower in AD patients, and the CSF/serum ratio of AD patients did not differ significantly between the 2 study groups. CSF vitamin E levels did not correlate with age, age at onset, duration of the disease and score of the Minimental State Examination in the AD group. Weight and body mass index were significantly lower in AD patients than in controls. These results suggest that low CSF and serum vitamin E concentrations in AD patients could be related with a deficiency of dietary intake of vitamin E.


Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/cerebrospinal fluid , Vitamin E/cerebrospinal fluid , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alzheimer Disease/blood , Analysis of Variance , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Linear Models , Lumbosacral Region , Male , Vitamin E/blood
19.
Parkinsonism Relat Disord ; 3(4): 187-90, 1997 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18591074

ABSTRACT

To assess the clinical features of essential tremor (ET), we studied 357 patients with diagnostic criteria for this disease who were referred to the Neurology departments of three urban hospitals. This is not a true epidemiological study, and can be biased in favour of patients with functional disability. There was a predominance of affectation of females and a peak of age at onset in the sixth and seventh decades. Family history of tremor was positive in 46.8% of patients. Females showed a a significantly higher frequency of inheritance through maternal than through paternal line, and had a higher frequency of head and voice tremor, than males. When compared with patients without family history, those with family history of tremor had lower age at onset of tremor, and lower frequency of jaw and trunk tremor in non-familial cases.

20.
Acta Neurol Scand ; 94(6): 411-4, 1996 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-9017029

ABSTRACT

It has been suggested that nitric oxide could be implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently Kuiper et al. reported decreased CSF nitrate levels (oxidation product that provides an indirect estimation of nitric oxide) in AD patients, assessed with a colorimetric method. However other group, using a microplate version of the Griess reaction, did not confirm these findings. We studied the CSF and plasma levels of nitrate with kinetic cadmium-reduction method in 32 AD patients and 36 matched controls. The CSF and plasma nitrate levels did not differ significantly between the two study groups. CSF and plasma nitrate levels did not correlate with age at onset and duration in the patient group. These data suggest that CSF and plasma levels of nitrate are apparently unrelated with the risk for AD.


Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/physiopathology , Nitrates/cerebrospinal fluid , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alzheimer Disease/diagnosis , Blood-Brain Barrier/physiology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Nitric Oxide/physiology , Reference Values
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