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Journal ArticleDOI

Chronic Parkinsonism in humans due to a product of meperidine-analog synthesis

J. W. Langston, +3 more
- 25 Feb 1983 - 
- Vol. 219, Iss: 4587, pp 979-980
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TLDR
It is proposed that this chemical selectively damages cells in the substantia nigra in patients who developed marked parkinsonism after using an illicit drug intravenously.
Abstract
Four persons developed marked parkinsonism after using an illicit drug intravenously. Analysis of the substance injected by two of these patients revealed primarily 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) with trace amounts of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-4-propionoxy-piperidine (MPPP). On the basis of the striking parkinsonian features observed in our patients, and additional pathological data from one previously reported case, it is proposed that this chemical selectively damages cells in the substantia nigra.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

MPTP, the neurotoxin inducing Parkinson's disease, is a potent competitive inhibitor of human and rat cytochrome P450 isozymes (P450bufI, P450db1) catalyzing debrisoquine 4-hydroxylation.

TL;DR: Immunoblotting experiments revealed the presence of a protein in rat and human brain microsomes with the same electrophoretic properties as the liver enzyme, suggesting that P450bufI may be involved in the metabolism and neurotoxicity of MPTP.
Journal ArticleDOI

Paraquat induces long-lasting dopamine overflow through the excitotoxic pathway in the striatum of freely moving rats

TL;DR: The constant exposure to low levels of paraquat may lead to the vulnerability of dopamine terminals in humans, and might potentiate neurodegeneration caused by the exposure of other substances, such as endogenous dopaminergic toxins.
Journal ArticleDOI

High and low activity alleles of catechol-O-methyltransferase gene: ethnic difference and possible association with Parkinson's disease

TL;DR: Japanese patients with Parkinson's disease and controls were genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and digestion by the restriction enzyme NlaIII to determine high and low activity alleles of the COMT gene, suggesting that homozygosity for the low activity allele may increase susceptibility to PD.
Journal ArticleDOI

Mitochondria and the link between neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration

TL;DR: The close relationship existing among neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and mitochondrial impairment in three different widely-diffused neurological diseases in which these pathogenetic events coexist is described.
Journal ArticleDOI

Blink rates and disorders of movement.

TL;DR: Blink rate, a putative noninvasive marker of central dopamine activity, was assessed in medication-free patients with Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, Huntington’s disease, and dystonia.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Chronic Parkinsonism secondary to intravenous injection of meperidine analogues.

TL;DR: Biogenic amines and metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid and microscopic evaluation of the brain at necropsy were consistent with damage to aminergic neurons in the substantia nigra.
Journal ArticleDOI

Apraxia of lid opening

TL;DR: Apraxia of lid opening is a nonparalytic motor abnormality characterized by the patient's difficulty in initiating the act of lid elevation and differs from paralytic ptosis by being present only momentarily at the start of lidOpening.
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