Premium
Pramipexole in the treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease
Author(s) -
Möller J. C.,
Oertel W. H.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1046/j.1468-1331.2000.0070s1021.x
Subject(s) - pramipexole , medicine , parkinson's disease , dopamine receptor d3 , adverse effect , placebo , levodopa , disease , pharmacology , dopamine receptor , dopamine , alternative medicine , pathology
Pramipexole is a novel nonergoline dopamine agonist with a preference for the dopamine D 3 receptor subtype. Its efficacy and safety in the treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease has been investigated in several clinical studies. This review provides a summary of the data currently available, particularly in reference to the recent results of the European clinical phase III study and the potential tremorlytic activity of pramipexole. Interim analysis of the open‐label European clinical phase III study has provided evidence of long‐term efficacy and safety of pramipexole. In another study pramipexole has been shown to be significantly superior to placebo with an improvement in tremor score by 48% (vs. 13% in the placebo group). In addition to its likely usefulness in the treatment of rest tremor in Parkinson’s disease, data suggest that pramipexole is of interest due to its reported low frequency of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal side‐effects. However, studies comparing pramipexole with other antiparkinsonian agents would be useful to further define its benefits in the treatment of tremor‐dominant Parkinson’s disease and to further document its favourable adverse event profile.