Depressed Monoamine Catabolite Levels in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Parkinsonism Dementia of Guam

Abstract

Depressed levels of homovanillic acid, the principal catabolite of dopamine, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, the major product of serotonin degradation in brain, were found in the cerebrospinal fluid of seven Guamanian patients with Parkinsonism dementia. Homovanillic acid concentrations in spinal fluid of six Guamanians with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis were also significantly lower than those observed in six Guamanian control subjects, although higher than those found in the patients with Parkinsonism dementia. Monoamine catabolite levels in patients with Parkinsonism dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on Guam were similar to those found in Americans with idiopathic Parkinsonism or classic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, respectively. An alteration in cerebral monoamines similar to that previously found in classic Parkinson's disease may thus attend the Parkinsonism-dementia syndrome of Guam.