FDOPA PET and Nutritional Support in Parkinson's Disease

Prior treatment

• Previous brain surgery.
• Patients with current alcohol or drug abuse
• Enrollment in active clinical trial/ experimental therapy within the prior 30 days.
• Pending surgery during the course of the study.
• Cancer patients receiving active chemotherapy.

Other illness

• Known allergy to NAC
• Cognitive impairment by evaluation or known score on Mini-Mental Status examination of 25 or lower.
• Intracranial abnormalities that may complicate interpretation of the brain scans (e.g., stroke, tumor, vascular abnormality affecting the target area).
• History of head trauma with loss of consciousness \> 48 hours.
• Any medical disorder or physical condition that could reasonably be expected to interfere with the assessment of parkinsonian syndrome symptoms, or with any of the study assessments including the PET-MRI imaging.
• Patients with evidence of a significant psychiatric disorder by history/examination that would prevent completion of the study will not be allowed to participate.
• History of thrombocytopenia or clotting disorders.
• Severe gastroesophageal reflux disease.
• History of uncontrolled diabetes, , gastroesophageal reflux disease, thyroid conditions
• History of uncontrolled asthma.
• Patients taking medications that might interact with NAC involved in this study will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the PI or study physician. These medications include: Medications for high blood pressure; Medications that slow blood clotting; Medications for diabetes; Nitroglycerin.

Lab values

• History of severe kidney disease (if a patient reports this problem, a serum creatinine will be checked to assess glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and if it is less than 30, they will be excluded),

Other

• Wheelchair-bound or bed-ridden, non-ambulatory.
• Metal in the body that would prevent MRI scanning (as determined by the PI)
• Pregnant or lactating women.

• Clinical diagnosis of PD
• Age 30 years old and older
• Physically independent, ambulatory
• Hoehn and Yahr score of I-III inclusive.
• On stable antiparkinsonian medication for at least one month
• Women of childbearing potential will confirm a negative pregnancy test and must practice effective contraception during the period of pilot study. In addition, male subjects who have a partner of childbearing age should practice effective contraception.