Dopamine Turnover Rate as Surrogate Parameter for Diagnosis of Early Parkinson's Disease
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2009-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The study is designed to measure the difference of dopamine turnover rate measured by
Fluoro-Dopa-PET in the putamen between patients with Parkinson's disease treated with
cabergoline and levodopa for 3 months.
The study protocol includes an initial Fluoro-Dopa-PET scan before treatment and after three
months double-blind treatment with cabergoline or levodopa.
The hypothesis for this study is that the dopamine turnover rate is a more sensitive marker
for the early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease compared to the standard Fluoro-Dopa-PET
measuring only the Fluoro-Dopa uptake into the striatum.
For the interventional part of the study, the hypothesis is that levodopa has larger effects
on striatal dopamine turnover compared to dopamine agonists by providing more dopamine
precursor. Enhancement of compensatory mechanisms for dopamine loss in early PD such as
increased dopamine turnover could have several beneficial implications such as improvement or
prolongation of symptomatic treatment responses, but might also produce therapeutic problems
such as the development of levodopa-induced motor complications.