Melatonin has blocked adventitious movements induced by L-dopa in intact mice. It has reversed the adventitious turning to the right, and it has induced running to the left in mice receiving L-dopa after a lesion in the right caudate nucleus.

Transportation of manganese, L-dopa, and L-tryptophan was slower through the tissues, of intact pallid mice than through those of black C57Bl/6J mice, presumably because of the influence of the gene pallid.

We determined the concentrations of manganese in whole blood and hair in 52 epileptics, 6 blood relatives, and 24 normal controls. Blood, and possibly hair manganese content, was significantly lower in treated epileptics than in controls (p less than 0.002). Although not all patients showed reduced tissue manganese levels, most of those with frequent seizures had manganese levels falling below the lowest control level, suggesting a relationship between manganese tissue levels and high seizure activity. These differences in manganese levels were not correlated with the type, dose, or plasma levels of anticonvulsant medication. Reduced manganese availability at the neuronal level, where Mn++ stabilizes membrane excitability, may affect epileptogenic lesions to increase the likelihood of seizure activity.

No abstract