title: Reduced plasma taurine level in Parkinson's disease: association with motor severity and levodopa treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to evaluate the level of taurine in plasma, and its association with the severity of motor and non-motor symptoms (NMS) and chronic levodopa treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma taurine level was measured in treated PD (tPD), untreated PD (ntPD) and control groups. Motor symptoms and NMS were assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, the short form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Hamilton Depression Scale, the Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease for Autonomic Symptoms and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Longtime exposure to levodopa was indicated by its approximate cumulative dosage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The plasma taurine levels of PD patients were decreased when compared with controls and negatively associated with motor severity but not NMS. Moreover, tPD patients exhibited lower levels of plasma taurine than ntPD patients. Interestingly, plasma taurine levels negatively correlated with cumulative levodopa dosage in tPD. After controlling for potential confounders, the association between taurine and levodopa remained significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study supports that taurine may play important roles in the pathophysiology of PD and the disturbances caused by chronic levodopa administration.
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Yongsheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Siming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Qinrong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: b 2 Department of Neurosurgery , Nanjing Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology , The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Kezhong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013654:Taurine / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D013654:Taurine; D007980:Levodopa
keywords: Parkinson's disease; levodopa; motor severity; taurine