Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 157, Issue 1, 9 July 1993, Pages 103-106
Neuroscience Letters

Serum levels of β-carotene and other carotenoids in Parkinson's disease

https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3940(93)90653-3Get rights and content

Abstract

To elucidate the possible role of carotenoids in the risk for developing Parkinson's disease (PD), we compared serum levels of β-carotene, α-carotene and lycopene, measured by high performance liquid chromatography, of 61 PD patients using their spouses as the control group. The serum levels of these 3 carotenoids did not differ significantly between PD patients and control groups. There was no influence of antiparkinsonian therapy on serum carotenoids levels, and these did not correlate with age, age at onset, scores of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale or the Hoehn and Yahr staging in the PD group. These results show that serum carotenoids concentrations are apparently unrelated to the risk for developing PD.

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