ABSTRACT
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder that affects the human population worldwide. It generally presents clinically in adults over the age of 60 years, and major symptoms include akinesia, rest tremor, bradykinesia, and postural instability. Continuing development of magnetic resonance spectroscopy produced techniques for the measurement of cerebral neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate and of the energetic and neurotransmission fluxes associated with these compounds. Thus, the detection and quantification of brain metabolites selectively in brain structures involved in cortico-basal ganglia-cortical pathways could improve the mechanistic understanding of the physiopathology of PD. The chapter describes some of the insights gained into the physiopathology of PD through the study of glutamate, glutamine, and GABA levels, and metabolic processes. High levels of glutamine concomitant with high levels of glutamate in the striatum after dopaminergic denervation in murine models of PD are suggestive of abnormalities in the glutamate–glutamine cycle.
