Administration of Dihydroxyphenylalanine to Parkinsonian Patients.
Year: 1964
Type: article
Abstract: Dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa), the metabolic precursor of dopamine, was administered to 10 parkinsonian patients in oral doses of 1-5 g. and intravenous doses of 0.2-0.5 g. Increases in dopamine excretion of 100- to 1000-fold following the dopa administration indicated that dopa was being absorbed and metabolized. Only two of the 10 patients showed any objective improvement on this treatment. Although dopa did not show sufficient beneficial results in this study to be considered a useful therapeutic agent, its slight activity is consistent with other evidence suggesting that some extrapyramidal cells are sensitive to dopamine.
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: P L MCGEER, L R ZELDOWICZ
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W310355723