Pergolide mesilate may improve fatigue in patients with Parkinson's disease.
OBJECTIVE
Fatigue is a complaint frequently encountered among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Considering the possible relationship between fatigue and dopaminergic dysfuncion, we investigated the effect of pergolide mesilate (a D2 and D1 dopamine receptor agonist) and bromocriptine (a D2 selective dopamine receptor) in patients with PD.


METHODS
We evaluated 41 patients with PD and controls. We assessed the degree of fatigue by using a fatigue scale. The severity of PD was evaluated by the Hoehn and Yahr Scale and the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS).


RESULTS
After five weeks from prescription, patients taking pergolide mesilate showed significant improvement in the fatigue scale (from 5.1 +/- 0.7 to 4.4 +/- 0.55, p < 0.05, ) but patients taking bromocriptine did not (from 4.8 +/- 0.9 to 4.7 +/- 0.8).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggested the possibility of functional correlation between fatigue and D1 receptor in patients with PD.
Abe
K
K
Department of Neurology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan. abe@neurol.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Takanashi
M
M
Yanagihara
T
T
Sakoda
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D010479:Pergolide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000819:agonists; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000819:agonists; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D010479:Pergolide; D001971:Bromocriptine