Dopamine Agonists in Parkinson Disease: Special Focus on Pramipexole

S8 CONSULTANT SEPTEMBER 2008 (SUPPLEMENT) ABSTRACT: Dopamine receptor agonists have played an important role in antiparkinsonian therapy since the first ergoline derivative was introduced in 1974. The non-ergoline dopamine agonists, developed later to provide the benefits of the ergolines with fewer side effects, are currently used as both monotherapy and as adjunctive therapy to treat symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD), to postpone the onset of levodopa therapy, to delay the development and minimize the severity of levodopa’s complications, and to reduce the dosage of levodopa. When the effects of dopamine agonists wane and levodopa is added, patients who receive combined dopaminergic treatment still exhibit less severe motor complications than those who started antiparkinsonian therapy with levodopa. In addition to abating the core symptoms of PD (eg, akinesia and rigidity) and delaying the onset of motor complications, the dopamine agonist pramipexole has been shown to ameliorate tremor and depressive symptoms in clinical practice.