Tyrosine hydroxylase, tryptophan hydroxylase, biopterin, and neopterin in the brains of normal controls and patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer type.

The activities of tyrosine hydroxylase and tryptophan hydroxylase, and the concentrations of the biopterin cofactor and the precursor neopterin were measured in 14 regions of postmortem brains from four histologically verified patients of senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) and eight histologically normal controls. Neopterin concentrations were measured in the human brain for the first time. The activities of tyrosine hydroxylase and tryptophan hydroxylase in the brains of patients with SDAT were significantly reduced in the substantia nigra and in the lateral segment of the globus pallidus, locus ceruleus, and substantia nigra, respectively. The concentrations of total biopterin in the brains of patients with SDAT were significantly reduced in the putamen and substantia nigra, but the total neopterin concentrations did not change significantly. These results suggest that the reduction in biogenic amines in SDAT might be related to reductions in biosynthetic enzymes associated with biogenic amines, due to destruction of monoaminergic neurons.