Parkinson's disease affects differently Met5- and Leu5-enkephalin in the human brain.
When measured in post-mortem human control brains, the ratio of Met5-enkephalin levels to those of Leu5-enkephalin varied from 1 to 13 in the 11 areas examined. In parkinsonian brains a significant reduction in the levels of both peptides was found in the pallidum and putamen whereas only Met5-enkephalin levels were decreased in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Therefore, Met5-enkephalin and Leu5-enkephalin may be located (at least partly) in different neuronal populations in the human brain.
D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D004743:Enkephalin, Leucine / Q000032:analysis*; D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine; D004743:Enkephalin, Leucine