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Review
. 2016 Jun;6(3):249-68.
doi: 10.2217/nmt-2016-0005. Epub 2016 May 27.

Nondopaminergic treatments for Parkinson's disease: current and future prospects

Maria Eliza Freitas  1 , Susan H Fox  1
Affiliations
Review

Nondopaminergic treatments for Parkinson's disease: current and future prospects

Maria Eliza Freitas et al. Neurodegener Dis Manag. 2016 Jun.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is primarily caused by dysfunction of dopaminergic neurons, however, nondopaminergic (ND) systems are also involved. ND targets are potentially useful to reduce doses of levodopa or to treat nonlevodopa-responsive symptoms. Recent studies have investigated the role of ND drugs for motor and nonmotor symptoms. Adenosine A2A receptor antagonists, mixed inhibitors of sodium/calcium channels and monoamine oxidase-B have recently been found to improve motor fluctuations. N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists and serotonin 5HT1B receptor agonists demonstrated benefit in levodopa-induced dyskinesia. Conversely, studies using antiepileptic drugs and adrenoreceptor antagonist had conflicting results. Moreover, metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonists also failed to improve symptoms. The current review summarizes the most recent findings on ND drugs over the last 2 years.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; motor and nonmotor symptoms; nondopaminergic treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure ME Freitas received funding from the Paul and Susan Hansen fellowship award. S Fox has received consultancy from Adamas, Astra Zeneca; Kyowa, Teva, Novartis, Orion, Zambon; Speaker honoraria from the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society and American Academy of Neurology; Research funding from Michael J Fox Foundation for PD research, NIH, Parkinson Society Canada and Toronto Western Foundation. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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