Motoki Fujimaki, Shinji Saiki, Yuanzhe Li, Naoko Kaga, Hikari Taka, Taku Hatano, Kei-Ichi Ishikawa, Yutaka Oji, Akio Mori, Ayami Okuzumi, Takahiro Koinuma, Shin-Ichi Ueno, Yoko Imamichi, Takashi Ueno, Yoshiki Miura, Manabu Funayama, Nobutaka Hattori
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the kinetics and metabolism of caffeine in serum from patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and controls using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. METHODS: Levels of caffeine and its 11 metabolites in serum from 108 patients with PD and 31 age-matched healthy controls were examined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Mutations in caffeine-associated genes were screened by direct sequencing. RESULTS: Serum levels of caffeine and 9 of its downstream metabolites were significantly decreased even in patients with early PD, unrelated to total caffeine intake or disease severity...
January 30, 2018: Neurology