Beneficial effect of pramipexole for motor function and depression in Parkinson’s disease

We examined whether pramipexole (PPX) can influence depressive scale in normal and mild depressive parkinsonian patients. In an open study of PPX as an add-on to L-dopa therapy or single administration, 36 nondemented outpatients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) were entered first. All were in the stage II or III of Hoehn and Yahr scale (H&Y). PPX were started at 0.125 mg/day and daily doses were increased to 1.5 mg/day. At 3 months after PPX treatment, patients were re-evaluated. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale III, H&Y stage, and freezing of gait questionnaire were compared in patients before and after PPX treatment. These scores were significantly improved after PPX administration. There were no correlations between HAM-D and those motor functions. We suggest that PPX treatment has antidepressant effects in depressive PD patients and also ameliorates HAM-D score in nondepressive PD patients in addition to motor function.