Quantitative NMR analysis of L-Dopa in seeds from two varieties of Mucuna pruriens.

Introduction: L-Dopa, a key neurotransmitter used to treat neural disorders such as Parkinson's disease, is found in the seeds of the genus Mucuna at a sufficient concentration for possible commercial use.

Objective: To develop a simple and reliable method to extract L-Dopa from M. pruriens seeds in an aqueous medium and then quantitate this compound using a H qNMR method (internal standard); and also to evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of this method with an NMR calibration curve.

Hereditary early-onset Parkinson's disease caused by mutations in PINK1.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. We previously mapped a locus for a rare familial form of PD to chromosome 1p36 (PARK6). Here we show that mutations in PINK1 (PTEN-induced kinase 1) are associated with PARK6.