title: Dyskinesias and treatment with pramipexole in patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Dopamine agonists such as pramipexole (PPX) have first been proposed as adjunctive treatment to levodopa (L-DOPA) for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and then as a monotherapy alternative to alleviate dyskinesia. Treatment with PPX has overall been associated with improvement in parkinsonian symptoms. Although the majority of placebo-controlled studies demonstrated that dyskinesia was more prevalent in the PPX compared to the placebo groups, some studies did not detect any dyskinesia as a side effect of this medication. PPX was consistently associated with lower risk for developing dyskinesia compared to L-DOPA. Moreover, the presence of these symptoms in the placebo groups suggests involvement of non-PPX-related factors for developing dyskinesia. It is suggested that future research should aim at ascertaining whether cotherapy with L-DOPA, PPX dosage, and other patient characteristics are contributory factors for the development of PPX-related dyskinesia in patients with PD.
authors.affiliation: Michael Trimble Neuropsychiatry Research Group, University of Birmingham and BSMHFT, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: John C P
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Piedad
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Cavanna