2007/06/01 by Bhomraj Thanvi, Nelson Lo, Tom Robinson · 1 citation
Medicine · Neuroscience · #Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments #Neurological disorders and treatments #Autism Spectrum Disorder Research #Levodopa #Dyskinesia #Medicine #Parkinsonism #Amantadine #Parkinson's disease #Disease #Deep brain stimulation #Dopamine #Pathogenesis #Bioinformatics #Pharmacology #Internal medicine
paper · pdf · doi:10.1136/pgmj.2006.054759
openalex publication_date 2007/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Levodopa is the most effective drug for treating Parkinson's disease. However, long-term use of levodopa is often complicated by significantly disabling fluctuations and dyskinesias negating its beneficial effects. Younger age of Parkinson's disease onset, disease severity, and high levodopa dose increase the risk of development of levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LID). The underlying mechanisms for LID are unclear though recent studies indicate the importance of pulsatile stimulation of striatal postsynaptic receptors in their pathogenesis. The non-human primates with MPTP-induced parkinsonism serve as a useful model to study dyskinesia. Once established, LID are difficult to treat and therefore efforts should be made to prevent them. The therapeutic and preventative strategies for LID include using a lower dosage of levodopa, employing dopamine agonists as initial therapy in Parkinson's disease, amantadine, atypical neuroleptics, and neurosurgery. LID can adversely affect the quality of life and increase the cost of healthcare.