Neurology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Correspondence:
Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Correspondence are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by TOLOSA, E. S.
Right arrow Articles by JACOBSON, R. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by TOLOSA, E. S.
Right arrow Articles by JACOBSON, R. L.
NEUROLOGY 1975;25:177
© 1975 American Academy of Neurology

Patterns of clinical response and plasma dopa levels in Parkinson's disease

EDUARDO S. TOLOSA, M.D., WILLIAM E. MARTIN, M.D., Ph.D., HAROLD P. COHEN, Ph.D. and RONALD L. JACOBSON, M.S.

Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota Health Sciences Center, Minneapolis.

Serial determinations of plasma dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa) in 16 Parkinson's disease patients receiving levodopa showed a negative correlation between plasma dopa levels and disability scores among patients who exhibited daily fluctuations of signs and symptoms. This suggests that the amount of levodopa delivered to the brain from the periphery is of major importance in the production of the "on-off" phenomenon. A close relationship between plasma dopa levels and abnormal involuntary movements was present in six patients. In three a striking dissociation between control of Parkinson's disease and abnormal involuntary movements was present, suggesting that in some patients these two effects are mediated through different underlying mechanisms. Administration of levodopa in such a way as to prevent both high and low levels of dopa in plasma minimizes disability in Parkinson's disease and may lessen abnormal involuntary movements in patients with the "on-off" effect.

This study was supported in part by Merck, Sharp & Dohme, West Point, Pennsylvania.

Received for publication July 16, 1974.

Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Tolosa at his present address: Medical Research Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, L.I., NY 11973.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 BrainHome page
R. de la Fuente-Fernandez, M. Schulzer, E. Mak, D. B. Calne, and A. J. Stoessl
Presynaptic mechanisms of motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease: a probabilistic model
Brain, April 1, 2004; 127(4): 888 - 899.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BrainHome page
A. J. Manson, H. Hanagasi, K. Turner, P. N. Patsalos, P. Carey, N. Ratnaraj, and A. J. Lees
Intravenous apomorphine therapy in Parkinson's disease: Clinical and pharmacokinetic observations
Brain, February 1, 2001; 124(2): 331 - 340.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch NeurolHome page
T. Mutoh, Y. Senda, K. Sugimura, Y. Koike, Y. Matsuoka, I. Sobue, A. Takahashi, and M. Naoi
Severe Orthostatic Hypotension in a Female Carrier of Fabry's Disease
Arch Neurol, April 1, 1988; 45(4): 468 - 472.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch NeurolHome page
J. T. Hutton, J. W. Albrecht, G. C. Roman, and M. T. Kopetzky
Prolonged Serum Levodopa Levels With Controlled-Release Carbidopa-Levodopa in the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease
Arch Neurol, January 1, 1988; 45(1): 55 - 57.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch NeurolHome page
A. Barbeau
Six Years of High-Level Levodopa Therapy in Severely Akinetic Parkinsonian Patients
Arch Neurol, May 1, 1976; 33(5): 333 - 338.
[Abstract] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1975 by AAN Enterprises, Inc.