Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder with prominent motor symptoms.However, depression is common in PD, affecting about 40% of PD patients. Since there is extensive evidence of degeneration of serotonin (5HT) neurons and loss of the 5HT transporter (5HTT) in PD, we assessed whether a functional polymorphism in the promoter of the 5HTT gene (5HTT gene-linked polymorphic region, 5HTTLPR), which determines high or low 5HT uptake, is associated with depressive symptomatology in PD patients. We found that patients with the short allele of the 5HTTLPR had significantly higher scores on the Hamilton Depression Scale. A functional promoter polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene showed no association. Thus, the 5HTTLPR but not the MAOA gene promoter-associated polymorphism may be a risk factor for depression in PD patients, while neither polymorphism increases the risk for development of Parkinson's disease itself. Molecular Psychiatry (2001) 6, 350-352. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and affects about 1% of the Western population older than 50 years. Rare forms of PD are transmitted in an autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive mode of inheritance: for these, mutations in the Park 1 locus (␣-synuclein) or the Park 2 locus have been demonstrated, while the underlying mutation in a third locus, Park 3, has not yet been identified. 1 The vast majority of PD cases, however, are sporadic and are probably caused by the interaction of several genes with multiple environmental factors. One of these genes may be the ⑀4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene, which in conjunction with a Park 1 promoter polymorphism has very recently been shown to increase the risk for developing sporadic PD. 1 The most striking symptoms of PD relate to the motor system, with rigidity, tremor, and akinesia. However, psychiatric manifestations including depression and dementia syndrome are common in PD patients. Depression is a frequent and often presymptomatic feature and has been shown to affect about 40% of PD patients. [2][3][4] This may relate to the fact that neurodegeneration in PD is not restricted to the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra but also affects serotonergic neurons. The cell bodies of serotonergic neurons are located in the raphe nuclei of the brainstem. The axons of these serotonergic neurons project to almost all regions of the brain. The neurotransmitter they produce, serotonin (5HT), influences many physiologic functions including motor activity, food intake, reproductive activity, sleep, and neuroendocrine rhythms, as well as cognition and emotional states, including mood and anxiety. This diversity of effects is due to the fact that 5HT influences the activity and interaction of several other neurotransmitters. 5HT exerts its effects via at least 14 known pre-and postsynaptic 5HT receptor subtypes. The reuptake of 5HT released into the synaptic cleft, on the other hand, is mediated by a single protein, the 5HT transporter (5HTT). The 5HT...

Primary LHON mutations are not characteristic for MS with optic involvement, but secondary LHON mutations and two substitutions abolishing a HpaII site in the mt tRNA(Thr) gene may contribute to the aetiology of MS with optic involvement.

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In advanced stages of Parkinson's disease problems of speech, mobility and balance occur with a high frequency. Although the symptoms of the disease can be treated by specific and individual pharmacotherapy, some of the severe symptoms such as freezing, falls, unsteadiness, and dysarthria persist. To evaluate the potential use of additional therapies, a diagnosis of all current symptoms must be performed; afterwards a specific individual treatment can be decided by the therapist based on objective data. Only if the initial evaluations of a new therapy show improvement, will such therapies be subjected to long-term evaluation, which should be also performed by the patient. This contribution presents examples of a useful prediagnosis and of the evaluation of the conventional physiotherapy. Also, two new methods are evaluated as additional therapies: low-frequency muscle stimulation and magnetic pulse therapy. A thorough symptomatic diagnostic view, specifically directed additional therapy and the careful evaluation of the use of therapies provide the only meaningful treatment of Parkinson's disease.

T-lymphocyte subpopulations were examined in the peripheral blood of 30 acute schizophrenic patients and compared with 30 age- and sex-matched patients with non-inflammatory neurological diseases. Significant increases in the numbers of Pan-T and T-helper cells were found in schizophrenic patients compared to the controls. The interindividual variability of values in the group of schizophrenic patients was greater than in the group of neurological patients.