Serotonin-dopamine interaction in the induction and maintenance of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias

Abstract

Appearance of dyskinesia is a common problem of long-term Levodopa (L-DOPA) treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and represents a major limitation for the pharmacological management of the motor symptoms in the advanced stages of disease. An increasing body of evidence points to dopamine released as a false neurotransmitter from the striatal serotonin terminals as the main pre-synaptic determinant of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Here we review the animal experimental and human clinical data in support of this view, which point to the serotonin system as a promising target for anti-dyskinetic therapy in PD patients under L-DOPA medication.