title: Apomorphine and levodopa in Parkinson's disease: Two revolutionary drugs from the 1950's.
abstract: This article reviews the history of apomorphine and levodopa, which were both discovered in the 1950's and have revolutionized treatment paradigms of Parkinson's disease. Although the discovery of levodopa is a prime example of successful translation of basic neuroscience into clinical routine, the history of apomorphine was based on less solid evidence. Despite this, both drugs are, more than 6 decades after the first clinical experiments, still the two most efficacious medications to treat patients with Parkinson's disease. New and promising delivery strategies for both levodopa and apomorphine are currently under investigation to further improve clinical responses.
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Neurology, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Atbin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Djamshidian
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Neurology, Innsbruck, Austria. Electronic address: werner.poewe@i-med.ac.at.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Poewe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000266:history
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D007980:Levodopa; D001058:Apomorphine
keywords: Apomorphine; History; Levodopa