Brain amino acids and glutathione in progressive supranuclear palsy

We measured amino acid contents in autopsied brains of seven patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and in control subjects dying without brain disease. Glutathione was also quantitated in rapidly frozen brains of PSP patients, Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, and controls. In PSP, we found glutamic acid markedly increased in the nucleus accumbens; taurine significantly increased in nucleus accumbens, substantia nigra, and globus pallidus; and gamma-aminobutyric acid significantly increased in nucleus accumbens and putamen. Glycerophosphoethanolamine contents were significantly increased in most regions. Glutathione, which is significantly decreased in substantia nigra in PD, was increased in this brain region in PSP, suggesting that different mechanisms may be responsible for destruction of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons in these two disorders.