Established therapies and novel targets in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease affects more than 1% of individuals older than 60 years of age. The gold standard of its symptomatic treatment is levodopa therapy, which in time leads to motor fluctuations and dyskinesia due to noncontinuous receptor stimulation. Dopamine agonists and monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors are recommended as initial therapy, but they are less effective in the advanced stages of the disease. Treatment should be individualized for the patient, dependent on the stage, with attention to nonmotor symptoms. No effective neuroprotective therapy for Parkinson’s disease is yet available, and there is currently substantial interest in the development of new nondopaminergic agents. Analogs of kynurenic acid and inhibitors of the enzymes involved in the synthesis of quinolinic acid may exert a neuroprotective effect.

Keywords::

• continuous stimulation
• dopamine agonist
• dyskinesia
• kynurenines
• levodopa
• MAO-B inhibitor
• Parkinson’s disease

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.