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Piribedil, a dopamine agonist, in Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Sweet Richard D.,
Wasterlain Claude G.,
McDowell Fletcher H.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt19741661077
Subject(s) - parkinsonism , medicine , agonist , adverse effect , dyskinesia , nausea , pergolide , placebo , dopamine agonist , dopamine , dopamine receptor , levodopa , parkinson's disease , pharmacology , anesthesia , disease , receptor , alternative medicine , pathology
Piribedil, a dopamine agonist that is thought to act directly on the postsynaptic receptor, was adminisered orally to 32 patients with Parkinson's disease. An initial nonblind study of 12 patients showed improvement in 6, in 4 by 33% or more. Subsequently, a double‐blind trial was conducted in 20 patients. Seven improved more than 25% and 3 of these more than 50%. The mean difference between placebo and piribedil scores was 44%, significant at the 1% level. Tremor improved more than the other major criteria of parkinsonism. Adverse effects included dyskinesia, nausea, drowsiness, and confusion. Though some patients were not helped at all and adverse effects made the medicine difficult to use, the benefit of piribedil for some patients demonstrates that dopamine receptor stimulators are potentially very helpful in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.