Summary
Folinic acid (15 mg bid, po) was administered in a two week, double-blind, placebocontrolled, cross over clinical trial in 5 patients with Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr stage I or II). 4 patients had not been on L-dopa treatment prior to entering this trial and one patient was on a small dose of L-dopa. No significant improvement could be detected in this pilot study by clinical evaluation and motor performance assessed by a computer assisted motor performance test.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abou-Saleh MT, Coppen A (1986) Psychiatric progress: the biology of folate in depression: implication for nutritional hypotheses of the psychosis. J Psychiatr Res 20/2: 91–102
Abouh-Saleh MT, Coppen A (1989) Serum and red blood cell folate in depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand 80: 78–82
Birkmayer GJD, Birkmayer W (1989) Stimulation of endogeneous L-dopa synthesis—a new principle for therapy of Parkinson's disease. Acta Neurol Scand 126: 183–187
Blair JA, Barford PA, Morar C, Pheasant AE, Hamon CGB, Whitburn SB, Leeming RJ, Reynolds GP, Coppen A (1984) Tetrahydrobiopterin metabolism in depression. Lancet ii: 163
Brocker P, Lebel C, Maurin H, Lods JC (1986) Carences en folates chez les sujets agés: interet de leur correction dans le traitement des troubles du comportement. Sem Hop Paris 62: 2135–2139
Brown RG, MacCarthy B, Gotham AM, Der GJ, Marsden CD (1988) Depression and disability in Parkinson's disease: a follow-up of 132 cases. Psychol Med 18: 49–55
Carney MWP (1979) Psychiatric aspects of folate deficiency. In: Boetz MI, Reynolds EH (eds) Folic acid in neurology, psychiatry, and internal medicine. Raven Press, New York, pp 475–482
Curtius HC, Niederwieser A, Levine R, Müldner H (1984) Therapeutic efficacy of tetrahydrobiop in Parkinson's disease. Adv Neurol 40: 463–466
Ellgring H, Seiler S, Nagel U, Perleth B, Gasser T, Oertel WH (1990) Psychosocial problems of Parkinson patients: approaches to assessment and treatment. Adv Neurol 53: 349–353
Fujishiro KI, Hagihara M, Takahashi A, Nagatsu T (1990) Concentrations of neopterin and biopterin in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Parkinson's disease. Biochem Med Metabol Biol 44: 97–100
Godfrey PSA, Toone BK, Carney MW, Flynn TG, Bottiglieri T, Laundy M, Chanarin I, Reynolds EH (1990) Enhancement of recovery from psychiatric illness by methylfolate. Lancet ii: 392–395
Hamon CGB, Blair JA, Barford PA (1986) The effect of tetrahydrofolate on tetrahydrobiopterin metabolism. J Ment Defic Res 30: 179–183
Harpey JP (1983) Les défauts de synthèse des bioptérines: les déficits complets (réductase et synthétase). Arch Fr Pédiatr 40: 231–235
Hughes A, Lees AJ, Stern GM (1990) Use of apomorphine to test for dopaminergic responsiveness. Lancet i: 8706–8710
Irons M, Harvey LL, O'Flynn ME, Stack CV, Langlais PJ, Butler IJ, Milstein S, Kaufman S (1987) Folinic acid therapy in treatment of dihydropteridine reductase deficiency. J Paediatr 110: 61–67
Kapatos G, Kaufman S (1981) Peripherally administered reduced pterins do enter the brain. Science 212: 955–956
Kaufman S (1971) The phenylalanin hydroxylating system from mammalian liver. Adv Enzymol 35: 245–319
Kaufman S, Kapatos G, Rizzo WB, Schulman JD, Tamarkin L, Van Loon GR (1983) Tetrahydrobiopterin treatment for hyperphenylalanemia caused by defective synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin. Ann Neurol 14 (3): 308–315
Koshimura K, Miwa S, Lee K, Fujiwara M, Watanabe Y (1990) Enhancement of dopamine release in vivo from the rat striatum by dialytic perfusion of 6R-L-Erythro-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin. J Neurochem 54: 1391–1397
Kraus PH, Klotz P, Fischer A, Przuntek H (1987) Assessment of symptoms of Parkinson's disease by apparative methods. J Neural Transm [Suppl 25]: 89–96
Levitt M, Nixon PF, Pincus JH, Bertino JR (1971) Transport characteristics of folates in cerebrospinal fluid; a study utilizing double labelled 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate. J Clin Invest 50: 1301–1308
Le Witt PA, Miller LP, Newman RP, Burns RS, Insel T, Levine RA (1984) Tyrosine hydroxylase cofactor (tetrahydrobiopterin) in Parkinsonism. Adv Neurol 40: 459–462
Lloyd KG, Davidson L, Hornykiewicz O (1975) The neurochemistry of Parkinson's disease: effect of L-dopa therapy. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 195: 453–464
McGuire BW, Sia LL, Haines JD, Kisicki JC, Gutierrez ML, Stokstad EL (1987) Absorption kinetics of orally administered leucovorin calcium. NCI Monogr 5: 47–56
Oertel WH, Gasser T, Ippisch R, Trenkwalder C, Poewe W (1989) Apomorphine test for dopaminergic responsiveness. Lancet i: 1262–1263
Pollock RJ, Kaufman S (1978) Dihydropteridin reductase may function in tetrahydrofolate metabolism: J Neurochem 31: 115–123
Rausch WD, Hirata Y, Nagatsu T, Riederer P, Jellinger K (1988) Tyrosine hydroxylase activity in caudate nucleus from Parkinson's disease: effect of iron and phosphorylating agents. J Neurochem 50: 202–208
Reynolds EH, Carney MW, Toone BK (1984) Methylation and mood. Lancet ii: 196–198
Smith I, Hyland K, Kendall B, Leeming R (1985) Clinical role of pteridine therapy in tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency. J Inher Metab Dis 8 [Suppl 1]: 39–45
Tada K, Narisawa K, Arai N, et al (1980) A sibling case of phenylalanemia due to deficiency of dihydropteridin reductase: biochemical and pathological findings. Tohoku J Exp Med 132: 123–131
Woody RC, Brewster MA, Glasier C (1989) Progressive intracranial calcification in dihydrobiopterin deficiency prior to folinic acid therapy. Neurology 39: 673–675
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schwarz, J., Trenkwalder, C., Gasser, T. et al. Folinic acid therapy fails to improve early Parkinson's disease: a two week placebo controlled clinical trial. J Neural Transm Gen Sect 4, 35–41 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02257620
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02257620