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Dopaminergic deficiency is more pronounced in putamen than in nucleus caudatus in Parkinson’s disease

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Neurochemical Pathology

Abstract

Six human control brains and three parkinsonian brains were sectioned coronally and analyzed by means of high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection for their anteroposterior distribution of dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) in the following nuclei: nucleus caudatus, putamen, and nucleus accumbens. A severe depletion of DA was noted throughout the anteroposterior gradient in the putamen of the parkinsonian brains (less than 5% of controls), whereas the reductions were moderate in nucleus caudatus and nucleus accumbens. In the nucleus caudatus and nucleus accumbens of the parkinsonian brains, the reductions of DA content were most prominent in the most anterior parts. Generally, the concentrations of NA did not differ significantly between the controls and the parkinsonian brains.

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Nyberg, P., Nordberg, A., Wester, P. et al. Dopaminergic deficiency is more pronounced in putamen than in nucleus caudatus in Parkinson’s disease. Neurochemical Pathology 1, 193–202 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02834244

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