title: Impact of levodopa on reduced nerve growth factor levels in patients with Parkinson disease.
abstract: The author s found 6.5-fold reduced nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in the plasma of treated patients with Parkinson disease (PD) compared with healthy control subjects (P = 0.03). A significant positive correlation between levodopa and NGF plasma levels appeared after acute levodopa/benserazide administration. The data suggest that acute levodopa administration may contribute to an increase of NGF plasma concentrations, which are reduced in treated PD patients due to the ongoing disease process itself or chronic antiparkinsonian drug treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. thomas.mueller@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Undine E
authors.initials: UE
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muhlack
authors.forename: Jacub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Welnic
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hellweg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001545:Benserazide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D007980:Levodopa; D001545:Benserazide; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor