Session Information
Date: Thursday, June 23, 2016
Session Title: Parkinson's disease: Clinical trials, pharmacology and treatment
Session Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Location: Exhibit Hall located in Hall B, Level 2
Objective: To describe the clinical effects of combined natural dopaminergic drugs with conventional levodopa therapy in a PD patient with motor and non-motor complications.
Background: Advanced PD is characterized by fluctuations in response to levodopa, less predictable the longer its evolution is. These fluctuations are pharmacologically counteracted by a continuous dopaminergic stimulation. The mucuna pruriens is a species of tropical bean whose seeds contain a large amount of natural levodopa. The green tea is an infusion that contains polyphenols with similar properties to those of decarboxylase and COMT inhibitors. The combination of natural and synthetic dopaminergic drugs may imply additional effects.
Methods: A patient resident in the Amazonia (Brasil) using natural drugs in combination with levodopa-benserazide was monitored during multiple pharmacological trials. Motor and non-motor effects were recorded during ON and OFF states over the different modes of treatment (levodopa-benserazide, mucuna with green tea, and combination in different dosage), which were measured by the UPDRS I, II, III and IV.
Results: The single use of synthetic levodopa or mucuna, when separately used, caused intense motor dyskinesias. The addition of green tea and mucuna to a conventional treatment with commercial levodopa-benserazide induced a remarkable and sustained improvement of motor fluctuations (reduction in off-periods and in dyskinesias) and non-motor complications (mood). This benefit was sustained over 3 months through the combination of synthetic levodopa with mucuna and green tea.
Conclusions: Natural dopaminergic substances, such as mucuna and green tea, may enhance the response to conventional drugs, with potential benefits whose mechanisms deserve further investigation.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
R. González-Maldonado, R. González-Redondo, C.G. DiCaudo. The clinical effects of mucuna and green tea in combination with levodopa-benserazide in advanced Parkinson’s disease: Experience from a case report [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2016; 31 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-clinical-effects-of-mucuna-and-green-tea-in-combination-with-levodopa-benserazide-in-advanced-parkinsons-disease-experience-from-a-case-report/. Accessed November 22, 2024.« Back to 2016 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-clinical-effects-of-mucuna-and-green-tea-in-combination-with-levodopa-benserazide-in-advanced-parkinsons-disease-experience-from-a-case-report/