Levodopa Therapy for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Since 1961 as the first trial for intravenous levodopa, it remains the gold standard therapy; however, chronic treatment is associated with the development of motor complications such as wearing off and dyskinesias. Substantial evidence suggests that motor complications are related to the nonphysiological restoration of brain dopamine with intermittent oral doses of standard levodopa. Thus, pulsatile stimulation using short acting levodopa could induce motor complications. Therefore, new approaches that provide continuous plasmalevodopa levels are currently being investigated. Theoretically, the development of an oral longacting form of levodopa is actively being pursued. These approaches offer the potential to considerably reduce and even prevent the disability associated with L-dopa-induced motor complications.