ADMINISTRATION OF DIHYDROXYPHENYLALANINE TO PARKINSONIAN PATIENTS

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  • 1 January 1964
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 90  (7) , 463-+
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 2 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.