TY - JOUR
T1 - Levodopa pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in fluctuating parkinsonian patients
AU - Nutt, John G.
AU - Woodward, William R.
PY - 1986/6
Y1 - 1986/6
N2 - We investigated levodopa intravenous infusion rates, plasma concentrations, and clinical responses in 23 parkinsonian patients with a fluctuating response to the drug. There was a linear relationship between rate of levodopa infusion and plasma concentration when carbidopa was coadministered. Minimum-therapeutically effective plasma concentrations of levodopa ranged from 3 to 12 nmol/ml. The duration, but not the magnitude, of clinical response was linearly related to plasma concentrations. The clinical response lagged behind the rise and fall of plasma levodopa. There was no evidence of idiosyncratic pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic responses to levodopa to explain the fluctuating response.
AB - We investigated levodopa intravenous infusion rates, plasma concentrations, and clinical responses in 23 parkinsonian patients with a fluctuating response to the drug. There was a linear relationship between rate of levodopa infusion and plasma concentration when carbidopa was coadministered. Minimum-therapeutically effective plasma concentrations of levodopa ranged from 3 to 12 nmol/ml. The duration, but not the magnitude, of clinical response was linearly related to plasma concentrations. The clinical response lagged behind the rise and fall of plasma levodopa. There was no evidence of idiosyncratic pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic responses to levodopa to explain the fluctuating response.
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U2 - 10.1212/wnl.36.6.739
DO - 10.1212/wnl.36.6.739
M3 - Article
C2 - 3703280
AN - SCOPUS:0022443805
SN - 0028-3878
VL - 36
SP - 739
EP - 744
JO - Neurology
JF - Neurology
IS - 6
ER -