Existing dopaminergic therapies for Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder associated with a gradual loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, resulting in diminishing production of dopamine and loss of motor function. Although the aetiology of PD is not understood completely, the recent understanding of the cause of this disease from genetic mutations and the development of a chemical model have provided much deeper insight into the pathogenesis of the disease process. Over the years many different therapeutic agents have been developed to alleviate symptomatic problems in PD. Among these agent, dopaminergic therapy still plays a dominant role as a mainstay treatment agents. In this article, along with levo-dopa (L-dopa), a brief review on different dopamine receptor agonists has been presented. In addition, indirect dopaminergic agents, such as selective monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors and catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors, have also been included in the description.

Keywords::

• COMT inhibitors
• dopamine agonists
• MAO inhibitors
• Parkinson’s disease

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS 047198). We are grateful to Dr Steven Firestine for reviewing this article.

Notes