Pavese Nicola, Rimoldi Ornella, Gerhard Alexander, Brooks David J, Piccini Paola
MRC Clinical Science Center and Division of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College. Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, United Kingdom.
Mov Disord. 2004 Mar;19(3):298-303. doi: 10.1002/mds.10651.
Cardiovascular responses after intravenous methamphetamine were assessed in 11 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), and electrocardiogram (ECG) were monitored for 103 minutes. After methamphetamine administration, SBP and DBP increased significantly in both PD and normal controls whereas placebo had no effect. In PD patients, however, the duration of SBP and DBP responses to methamphetamine and the maximum increase from baseline was attenuated compared with the controls. A significant correlation was found between individual BP responsiveness and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score. These findings suggest that in PD there is impairment of catecholamine release from peripheral sympathetic presynaptic terminals, which correlates with motor impairment.
