Session Information
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Session Title: Parkinson's disease: Pathophysiology
Session Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm
Location: Exhibit Hall located in Hall B, Level 2
Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in serum amino acid profile with progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Background: PD is a neurodegenerative disorder of unknown origin. Some amino acids, e.g. glutamate, are involved in development of dyskinesia whereas others, e.g. branched-chain amino acids, influence the availability of levodopa.
Methods: 49 patients with idiopathic PD were included. Patients were divided into early PD and advanced PD groups. The early PD group consisted of 21 patients (11 men), mean age of 62.2±11.1 yrs., mean disease duration of 1.7±0.9 yrs., mean levodopa dose equivalent (LDE) 379.0±185.6 mg. The advanced PD group consisted of 28 patients (11 men), mean age of 59.1±12.1 yrs., mean duration of the disease of 9.1±4.4 yrs., mean LDE of 1048.4 ±457.9 mg. There were no significant differences in age and sex among groups, while duration of the disease was significantly shorter (p<0.001) and LDE lower in early PD group (p<0.001). 10 ml blood samples were collected early morning before the first dose of levodopa (off state) and after 10 hrs. fasting period. Serum analysis was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography method (HPLC) with electrochemical detection. Statistical analysis was performed with the use of the STATISITCA ver. 10, using the Mann–Whitney test.
Results: We found differences between advanced PD and early PD groups in concentrations of cysteine (557 vs 674 µmol/L; p= 0.003), arginine (554 vs 672 µmol/L; p=0.003), alanine (578 vs 647 µmol/L; p=0.01), phenylalanine (556 vs 670 µmol/L; p=0.004), threonine (831 vs 394 µmol/L; p=0.008), respectively. No significant differences were found between concentrations of other analyzed amino acids (valine, tryptophan, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, total homocysteine, glutamine, histidine, glycine, citrulline, taurine, tyrosine, aminomalonic acid, methionine, ornithine, leucine, lysine, proline, and isoleucine).
Conclusions: Our study indicates that levels of amino acids may change with PD duration and may be related to progression of the disease as well as received treatment. The clinical importance of these findings is not clear and should be elucidated in further studies.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. Figura, K. Kusmierska, E. Bucior, S. Szlufik, D. Koziorowski, Z. Jamrozik, A. Friedman, P. Janik. Changes in serum amino acid levels with progression of Parkinson’s disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2016; 31 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/changes-in-serum-amino-acid-levels-with-progression-of-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed October 1, 2026.« Back to 2016 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/changes-in-serum-amino-acid-levels-with-progression-of-parkinsons-disease/