Slow increase of homovanillic acid in cerebrospinal fluid after levodopa administration

✍ Scribed by C. Raftopoulos; S. Dethy; M. A. Laute; S. Goldman; A. B. Naini; S. Przedborski; Dr. J. Hildebrand

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 340 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.870110111

✦ Synopsis

Concentrations of major catabolites of dopamine were followed in the ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in five patients undergoing intracranial pressure monitoring for chronic hydrocephalus. Determinations were made every 2 h following the administration of carbidopa/levodopa 25/250 mg (one Sinemet capsule) given 8 h apart. The rise of homovanillic acid (HVA) concentrations was slow and progressive, reaching the level of statistical significance (p < or = 0.01) only 8 h after the second administration of Sinemet. The rise in 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) was faster than the rise in HVA, with the peak value detected 4 h after the first administration of Sinemet. These data are interpreted as a confirmation, in humans, of a slow pool of exogenous levodopa, previously demonstrated in animal studies.