Caudate nucleus pathology in Parkinson's disease: ultrastructural and biochemical findings in biopsy material

Ultrastructural and biochemical properties of caudate nucleus (CN) biopsies in two patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) were compared with three CN specimens removed during surgery for intracranial tumors. An additional two specimens from neurologically intact patients (59 and 86 years old) were removed during autopsy (performed 3 and 4 h post mortem, respectively) for electron microscopic studies. Dopamine levels in PD were reduced …