Parkinson's disease: medical and surgical treatment.

J E Ahlskog

Journal: Neurologic clinics 2001;19(3):579-605, vi

PMID: 11532645

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

It has been over three decades since the introduction of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine or levodopa therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD). The early levodopa trials were driven by recognition of a profound cerebral dopamine deficiency state in this disorder. Whereas dopamine fails to cross the blood brain barrier and hence is ineffective as therapy, the amino acid precursor, dopa, is transported across this barrier and provides a substrate for dopamine synthesis. Levodopa is converted to dopamine within the brain by dopa decarboxylase, replenishing central dopamine stores and potentially reversing the motor symptoms of PD.

Address: Department of Neurology, Mayo Medical School, Chair, Mayo Clinic Division of Movement Disorders, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.

DOI: 10.1016/s0733-8619(05)70036-0

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MeSH Terms: Antiparkinson Agents, Brain Tissue Transplantation, Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors, Cerebral Cortex, Clinical Trials as Topic, Dopamine Agonists, Drug Therapy, Combination, Fetal Tissue Transplantation, Globus Pallidus, Humans, Levodopa, Neurons, Parkinson Disease, Subthalamic Nucleus, Thalamus