PMID- 15390046
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20050509
LR  - 20131125
IS  - 0885-3185 (Print)
IS  - 0885-3185 (Linking)
VI  - 20
IP  - 1
DP  - 2005 Jan
TI  - Effects of levodopa and COMT inhibitors on plasma homocysteine in Parkinson's 
      disease patients.
PG  - 69-72
AB  - Homocysteine (Hcy) is a risk factor for vascular diseases, cognitive impairment, 
      and dementia. Elevated plasma concentrations of Hcy have been found recently in 
      Parkinson's disease (PD) patients treated with levodopa, suggesting that levodopa 
      is a cause of hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy). The mechanism underlying HHcy in PD is 
      the O-methylation of levodopa catalyzed by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) 
      that produces S-adenosylhomocysteine, which is hydrolyzed rapidly to Hcy. COMT 
      inhibitors (COMT-I) are used currently in the treatment of PD; however, no study 
      has assessed the effects of COMT-I administration on Hcy concentrations in PD 
      patients. We compared plasma levels of Hcy, B12, and folate in 26 PD patients 
      treated with levodopa, 20 PD patients treated with levodopa + COMT-I, and 32 
      controls. No significant differences were found in vitamin B12 levels, whereas 
      folate concentrations were significantly lower in the levodopa-treated group. 
      Plasma Hcy was increased significantly in the two groups of PD patients and was 
      significantly lower in the group treated with levodopa + COMT-I. Statistical 
      analysis showed that the difference in mean Hcy levels observed among PD patients 
      was related to the addition of COMT-I, rather than to folate concentrations. We 
      conclude that levodopa treatment increases plasma Hcy and the addition of COMT-I 
      effectively reduces HHcy.
CI  - (c) 2004 Movement Disorder Society.
FAU - Lamberti, Paolo
AU  - Lamberti P
AD  - Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. 
      lamberti@neurol.uniba.it
FAU - Zoccolella, Stefano
AU  - Zoccolella S
FAU - Iliceto, Giovanni
AU  - Iliceto G
FAU - Armenise, Elio
AU  - Armenise E
FAU - Fraddosio, Angela
AU  - Fraddosio A
FAU - de Mari, Michele
AU  - de Mari M
FAU - Livrea, Paolo
AU  - Livrea P
LA  - eng
PT  - Clinical Trial
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - Mov Disord
JT  - Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society
JID - 8610688
RN  - 0 (Antiparkinson Agents)
RN  - 0 (Catechols)
RN  - 0 (Nitriles)
RN  - 0LVT1QZ0BA (Homocysteine)
RN  - 46627O600J (Levodopa)
RN  - 4975G9NM6T (entacapone)
RN  - 935E97BOY8 (Folic Acid)
RN  - P6YC3EG204 (Vitamin B 12)
SB  - IM
MH  - Aged
MH  - Antiparkinson Agents/*pharmacology/therapeutic use
MH  - Case-Control Studies
MH  - Catechols/*pharmacology/therapeutic use
MH  - Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods
MH  - Drug Therapy, Combination
MH  - Female
MH  - Folic Acid/blood
MH  - Homocysteine/*blood
MH  - Humans
MH  - Levodopa/*pharmacology/therapeutic use
MH  - Linear Models
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Nitriles
MH  - Parkinson Disease/*blood/drug therapy
MH  - Vitamin B 12/blood
EDAT- 2004/09/25 05:00
MHDA- 2005/05/10 09:00
CRDT- 2004/09/25 05:00
PHST- 2004/09/25 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2005/05/10 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2004/09/25 05:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1002/mds.20261 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Mov Disord. 2005 Jan;20(1):69-72. doi: 10.1002/mds.20261.