Worsening of motor performance in patients with Parkinson's disease following transdermal nicotine administration.
Nicotine has been reported to have positive effects on motor performance in patients with Parkinson's disease. In this study, motor performance was evaluated in 16 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease during a practical off-period using the motor part of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale after 12 hours' exposure to a transdermal patch containing 35 mg nicotine or placebo. The study was performed using a double-blind crossover design. In contrast to previous reports, nicotine exposure was followed by a worsening of symptoms compared with placebo. A negative response to subthreshold dopaminergic stimulation, resulting from an inhibitory effect of low striatal dopamine concentrations acting on a subset of dopamine receptors, might possibly account for this finding.
Ebersbach
G
G
Department of Neurology, University Clinic Innsbruck, Austria.
Stöck
M
M
Müller
J
J
Wenning
G
G
Wissel
J
J
Poewe
W
W
D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D009538:Nicotine; D004298:Dopamine