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Keith Chancey wrote: > > That's kinda what I've been getting at recently. Are the PD affected cells > > really dead, or just dormant? > I've seen slides showing a cross-section of the brain, and PWP don't > have the dark line which is the substantia nigra. I'm afraid it's white The question of dormant (at least as an intermediate stage) or dead for SN cells is still moot among the authorities, I think. But there is a related point that has piqued my curiosity: What precisely is the black pigment of the substantia nigra? One expert told me that it's not melanin, the usual dark compound in humans. An interesting experiment is to dissolve a bit of Sinemet (in tap water, which is slightly acid, not distilled water) and let the solution evaporate on a clean white surface, whereupon you will find a black precipitate residue. Could that be plain carbon from decomposition of the dopamine from the levodopa in Sinemet? Does it have any relation to the pigment of healthy substantia nigra? Perhaps a biochemist among us has an answer. Cheers, Joe -- J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013