Cerebrospinal fluid carnitine levels in patients with Parkinson's disease

We assessed free carnitine (FC) and acyl-carnitine esters (AC) in both CSF and plasma from 29 patients with diagnostic criteria for PD, and from 29 healthy matched-controls. FC and AC levels in both CSF and plasma did not differ significantly between PD patients and controls, they were not influenced significantly by anti-parkinsonian drugs, and did not correlate with age at onset, duration and severity of PD. These results suggest that CSF carnitine levels are apparently unrelated with the risk for PD.