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Comparison of Healing Effect of DMSP in Green Sea Algae and Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Various Inflammatory Disorders
Published in Se-Kwon Kim, Marine Biochemistry, 2023
L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (levodopa), a precursor of dopamine, has been the main drug for therapy of Parkinson’s disease (Heikkila et al., 1984; Magner, Jarvis & Rubin, 1986; Tieu, 2011; European Brain Council, 2011). However, the long-term dose of L-dopa proves to elicit some side effects (European Brain Council, 2011; Cenci & Crossman, 2018) and its therapeutic effect reduces after 3–5 years (Goodazi et al., 2015) The more effective drug than L-dopa for Parkinson’s disease has not been detected to date. Therefore, the drugs and other therapeutic techniques which heal, stop, and/or slow the PD need to be found in the near future. Several additional drugs are available in combination with levodopa but none significantly delays the proceeding of the neurodegeneration. Further problematic matter is that PD is mostly not diagnosed until overt symptoms appear. At this time, most of the dopaminergic neurons in the brain are already lost (Europian Brain Council, 2011; NIH RePort, 2013. Parkinson’s Disease; Goodazi et al., 2015). However, the administration of L-dopa has remained to be the main clinical therapy to ameliorate Parkinson’s disease (Heikkila et al., 1984; Wagner et al., 1986).
Biogenic amines
Published in William L. Nyhan, Georg F. Hoffmann, Aida I. Al-Aqeel, Bruce A. Barshop, Atlas of Inherited Metabolic Diseases, 2020
William L. Nyhan, Georg F. Hoffmann, Aida I. Al-Aqeel, Bruce A. Barshop
Treatment of the central deficiency of dopamine with L-DOPA has been the treatment of choice, and virtually always with carbidopa [25, 29, 34]. The most readily available preparations contain carbidopa or benserazide. Therapeutically successful doses of DOPA employed have been 3–10 mg/kg per day, but it is advisable to start with 0.1–0.5–1 mg/kg divided into three or four doses, and to increase weekly. Hypersensitivity to DOPA has been especially observed in type B patients; some tolerated only 0.5 mg/kg and some none. Inhibitors of dopamine degradation, such as selegiline, have been employed (see Table 17.2). Patients who tolerate a reasonable dose of L-DOPA generally displayed a good or moderately good response. Improvement in movement, hypokinesis, tremor, rigidity, and dystonia are often dramatic, permitting impressive improvement up to completely normal motor function in some. Children who had been wheelchair-bound for years have walked [29]. Clinical improvement is lasting, and patients have been followed over decades. Most patients have not had CSF levels of HVA monitored, but improvement clinically was found, even despite a failure to return CSF HVA to normal.
Regulation of Reproduction by Dopamine
Published in Nira Ben-Jonathan, Dopamine, 2020
Two studies have reported expression of D1R [101] and D2R [102] in the human term placenta. Although both Dopa and DA concentrations increase in several compartments of pregnancy just before labor, only a few and somewhat inconsistent studies have examined the role of DA in parturition. In samples of decidua obtained during an elective C-section, DA stimulated the synthesis of prostaglandin F, which is involved in the initiation of labor [103]. The use of myometrial strips from women during parturition showed that metoclopramide, the peripheral D2R antagonist, relaxed myometrial contractions, and exhibited different responses to subsequent oxytocin treatment [104]. However, opposite results were found in a study that used perifused myometrial specimens from term pregnant human uteri [105]. In this case, DA increased myometrial contractility, which was reduced by pretreatment with prostaglandin synthase inhibitor. The discrepancy among these studies is likely due to different experimental conditions or dissimilar drug dosages.
Genetic and epigenetic disease modifiers in an Italian C9orf72 family expressing ALS, FTD or PD clinical phenotypes
Published in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 2022
Antonia Ratti, Silvia Peverelli, Elisabetta D'Adda, Claudia Colombrita, Michele Gennuso, Alessandro Prelle, Vincenzo Silani
Her father (ND229) was diagnosed with PD associated with delusions of paranoid type. When he was 67, he began presenting resting tremor to the right hand and minimal motor discomfort. He also complained of a memory deficit due to recent events, insomnia, and behavioral alterations. Neurological examination showed a fine tremor at rest and a shaded plastic hypertonus in the upper limbs prevalent on the right. Brain MRI showed suffering of the periventricular white substance as from chronic microcirculation disorders. He started therapy with pramipexole with improvement in tremor and insomnia and good control of motor and cognitive-behavioral symptoms for at least two years. At the age of 69 he developed psychiatric symptoms with delusional ideas. A history of nonspecific psychiatric disorder was reported also in his mother. Neuropsychological testing showed a mild cognitive impairment with executive dysfunction with difficulty in performing multiple tasks (MMSE: 21). In the next years disease worsened and DOPA was introduced with few beneficial effects. The patient began to show a progressive cognitive impairment with hallucinations and delirium. No MND signs were present until the last follow-up (Figure 1(A)).
Real-world safety and effectiveness of rotigotine in patients with Parkinson’s disease: analysis of a post-marketing surveillance study in Japan
Published in International Journal of Neuroscience, 2022
Hidefumi Ito, Tomoyo Takayama, Hiroyuki Kondo, Yasuhiko Fukuta
Throughout the follow-up period, the dosage of l-dopa remained almost unchanged (approximately 450 mg/day). The overall LED increased by approximately 160 mg/day; however, rotigotine was of low dose. This finding could have been caused by (1) low, additional doses of rotigotine causing an improvement in symptoms by, (2) the slow progression of PD [30], and there was no necessity for immediate dose increase from a risk–benefit perspective based on the physicians from their observation of the symptoms and progression status of the patients, and (3) many elderly patients in the study population, and (4) possibility of the follow-up ending during the switching of drugs. If a certain degree of improvement in symptoms was achieved by a low dose of rotigotine and improvement in the Quality of Life were achieved, a careful determination of the DA dose increases according to the patient’s condition while maintaining a uniform l-dopa dose is considered. This would reflect the actual situation in clinical practice, which would leave the door open for further dose increases in cases of disease progression.
Electromyography-informed modeling for estimating muscle activation and force alterations in Parkinson’s disease
Published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2022
Marco Romanato, Daniele Volpe, Annamaria Guiotto, Fabiola Spolaor, Massimo Sartori, Zimi Sawacha
Two different datasets were involved in the study following the approval by the local Ethic Committees (CE/PROG 61/16 − 19/11/2015 (Peppe et al. 2019); University Policlinic of Padova protocol n° 1001 P − 21/11/2005 (Sawacha et al. 2010)). The first dataset (Dataset 1) included ten PD patients (6 males, 4 females, age = 66.89 ± 12.78 years, BMI = 23.38 ± 3.35 kg/m2), and 13 control subjects matched for age and BMI (CS, 7 males, 6 females, age = 58.23 ± 11.48 years, BMI = 25.63 ± 3.34 kg/m2). The PD participants had a Hoen and Yahr scale of 2–3 (Hoen & Yahr 1967) and Mini Mental State Evaluation > 24 (Folstein et al. 1975). Moreover, patients were able to walk autonomously and to perform the required tasks, on a stable treatment regimen for at least 3 months with a disease duration > 5 years and had a good response to anti-Parkinsonian therapy. The measures have been done at the same time in the morning in off medication in order to avoid the effect of L-Dopa as documented by some authors (Morris et al. 2005). PD patients with Deep Brain Stimulation were excluded from the study.