Among the drugs acting on the dopaminergic system, L-dopa is the most important one for treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease (2). The monitoring of L-dopa concentrations in plasma has clarified and solved several pharmacokinetic problems, such as recognizing pharmacokinetic interactions and producing new types of preparations such as controlled release drugs (2). Sagar and Smyth (3) r...

Various pharmacological approaches to potentiate the therapeutic actions of levodopa and reduce side-effects are reviewed. Of currently available drugs, anticholinergic agents and amantadine have been studied extensively. Inhibition of extracerebral decarboxylase appears to be the most promising new area of investigation, though experience is at present limited. Other methods discussed include ...

A comparison of the Hoesch and the Watson-Schwartz tests shows that the latter, although slightly more complicated, generally yields more concise results and is superior in sensitivity and specificity for porphobilinogen. The recommendation of the Hoesch test for use as a "bedside screening" method seems unrealistic. Before the diagnosis of an "inducible" porphyria is made, a positive Hoesch te...

EARLY reports demonstrated the value of methyldopa in the control, and short-term treatment, of hypertension (Irvine, O'Brien & North, 1962; Dollery & Harrington, 1962; Bayliss & HarveySmith, 1962), including the malignant phase (Hamilton & Kopelman, 1963). Subsequently, Johnson et al. (1966) convincingly demonstrated its value in the control of blood pressure of 100 hypertensive subjects over ...

The decision to treat elevated arterial pressure in pregnancy depends on the risk and benefits imposed on the mother and the fetus. Treatment for mild-to-moderate hypertension during pregnancy may not reduce maternal or fetal risk. Severe hypertension, on the other hand, should be treated to decrease maternal risk. Methyldopa and beta-adrenoceptor antagonists have been used most extensively. In...

The title bicyclic lactone, C(19)H(19)NO(3), is an inter-mediate in the synthesis of chiral α-methyl-prolines and branched C-methyl pyrrolidines; the absolute configuration was determined by the use of d-erythronolactone as the starting material. It exhibits no unusual crystal packing features, and each mol-ecule acts as a donor and acceptor for one C-H⋯O hydrogen bond.