In the present study, synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was used to analyze the biochemical composition of the striatal neurons in normal and Parkinsons disease (PD) rat brain tissues.The rat model of PD was established by 6-hydroxydopamine destroying the nigrostriatal pathway.The detailed spectral analyses showed significant changes of cellular compositions such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids in PD neurons with respect to normal.As a result, the intensities of spectral absorption assigned to lipid in the striatal neurons of PD were higher than that of normal.Furthermore, the unsaturation level of phospholipids decreased for PD neurons with respect to normal, indicating the high level of lipid peroxidation.The analysis of protein secondary structure showed a significantly higher ratio of β-sheet in PD neurons compared to that of normal.However, the content of nucleic acids in PD neurons decreased in comparison to normal.These finding suggest that the biochemical changes in the striatal neurons might be involved in the pathogenesis of PD.