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N‐Acetyl Cysteine Is Associated With Dopaminergic Improvement in Parkinson's Disease
Author(s) -
Monti Daniel A.,
Zabrecky George,
Kremens Daniel,
Liang TsaoWei,
Wintering Nancy A.,
Bazzan Anthony J.,
Zhong Li,
Bowens Brendan K.,
Chervoneva Inna,
Intenzo Charles,
Newberg Andrew B.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt.1548
Subject(s) - dopaminergic , parkinson's disease , putamen , dopamine transporter , medicine , dopamine , cysteine , gastroenterology , levodopa , pharmacology , endocrinology , disease , chemistry , biochemistry , enzyme
This study assessed the biological and clinical effects in patients with Parkinson's disease ( PD ) of N‐acetyl‐cysteine ( NAC ), the prodrug to l ‐cysteine, a precursor to the natural biological antioxidant glutathione. Forty‐two patients with PD were randomized to either weekly intravenous infusions of NAC (50 mg/kg) plus oral doses (500 mg twice per day) for 3 months or standard of care only. Participants received prebrain and postbrain imaging with ioflupane (DaTscan) to measure dopamine transporter ( DAT ) binding. In the NAC group, significantly increased DAT binding was found in the caudate and putamen (mean increase from 3.4% to 8.3%) compared with controls ( P < 0.05), along with significantly improved PD symptoms ( P < 0.0001). The results suggest NAC may positively affect the dopaminergic system in patients with PD , with corresponding positive clinical effects. Larger scale studies are warranted.