Multidisciplinary analysis of the effectiveness of autologous neural transplant (adrenal medulla) as treatment of Parkinson's disease.

The neurobiological aspects of human neural transplants are far from being understood. We have approached their study by means of a multidisciplinary working team. Nine patients with Parkinson's disease were subjected to open brain surgery for grafting of autologous adrenal medulla. Not all patients improved. Those patients that did so showed different patterns of improvement. Rigidity was the sign most relieved in this group of patients. Electroencephalographic changes were attributable to surgical manipulation. High-performance liquid chromatographic quantification of catecholaminergic metabolites did not correlate with post-grafting outcome. Biopterin levels showed a significant increment after surgery. More interdisciplinary studies ought to be done on neural transplants.