To determine whether multiple system atrophy (MSA) is associated with altered expression levels of the alpha-synuclein messenger RNA (mRNA), we performed quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for alpha-synuclein mRNA using postmortem brain samples from 11 cases of MSA and 14 age-matched control subjects. The brain specimens used in this study contained both the gray matter and white matter, which were dissected from the frontal, temporal or occipital lobe. The expression levels of alpha-synuclein mRNA in the brain specimens of MSA cases were not different from those of the control subjects. These results suggest that the transcriptional regulation of the alpha-synuclein gene is unlikely to be affected in MSA brains.