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Science 18 August 1972:
Vol. 177. no. 4049, pp. 613 - 616
DOI: 10.1126/science.177.4049.613
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Articles

Dopamine: Mediator of Brain Polysome Disaggregation after L-Dopa

Bette F. Weiss 1, Hamish N. Munro 1, Luis A. Ordonez 1, and Richard J. Wurtman 1

1 Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139

The disaggregation of brain polysomes which is produced by giving large doses of L-dopa to rats is not reproduced by administering its metabolite, 3-O-methyldopa, by giving D-dopa, which also depletes the brain of S-adenosylmethionine but is not converted to catecholamines, or by giving the L-dopa after a decarboxylase inhibitor. Polysome disaggregation is potentiated by the prior administration of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, indicating that formation of a catecholamine is an obligatory requirement. These observations suggest that the mechanism by which L-dopa disaggregates brain polysomes involves its conversion to dopamine within the majority of brain cells.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Five Years' Treatment of Parkinson's Disease with Levodopa: Therapeutic Results and Survival of 100 Patients.
R. D. SWEET and F. H. McDOWELL (1975)
Ann Intern Med 83, 456-463
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)