Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormonelike immunoreactivity is increased in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Parkinson's disease
I. Rainero, J. A. Kaye, C. May, R. Durso, D. I. Katz, M. L. Albert, N. Wolfe, L. Pinessi, R. P. Friedland and S. I. Rapoport
Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Md 20892.
We measured alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormonelike immunoreactivity in
cerebrospinal fluid of 12 healthy control subjects and nine patients with
Parkinson's disease, four of whom had never been treated. Mean
cerebrospinal fluid alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormonelike
immunoreactivity concentration was two-fold greater in parkinsonian
patients (44.1 +/- 9.3 [SD] pg/mL) as compared with control subjects (21.8
+/- 10.0 pg/mL). No significant correlation was found between cerebrospinal
fluid alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormonelike immunoreactivity
concentrations and patient age, disease severity, or duration of disease.
These results suggest a functional relation between dopaminergic and
melanotropinergic systems in the human brain.