Lack of major olfactory dysfunction in MPTP-induced parkinsonism.

The olfactory function of 6 patients whose parkinsonism was the result of intravenous administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) was compared to that of 12 age-matched patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and 10 age-matched normal control subjects. Unlike their PD counterparts, the olfactory test scores of patients with MPTP-induced parkinsonism did not differ significantly from those of control subjects. These findings suggest that MPTP-induced parkinsonism, unlike idiopathic PD, is unaccompanied, on average, by major alterations in the ability to smell.