[Tandospirone citrate, a selective 5-HT1A agonist, alleviates L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease].

A rapid and excessive increase in extracellular dopamine(DA) after L-DOPA administration is considered one of the major causes for L-DOPA-induced peak-dose dyskinesia. Therefore, inhibition of excessive rise in L-DOPA-derived DA is likely to be an ideal treatment for L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Based on our previous experimental studies that 8-OH-DPAT, a potent 5-HT1A agonist, attenuates an increase in L-DOPA-induced extracellular DA in the striatum of the rat model of Parkinson's disease, we hypothesized that L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease is alleviated by a 5-HT1A agonist. In the present study, we administered tandospirone citrate, a selective 5-HT1A agonist, to patients with Parkinson's disease suffering from L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Tandospirone(15-60 mg/day) was administered to 10 patients with L-DOPA-induced peak-dose dyskinesia. Twelve weeks after tandospirone treatment, duration of dyskinesia, subjective and objective severity of dyskinesia, and parkinsonian features were evaluated. Severity of dyskinesia was decreased in 5 patients; among these, 3 patients experienced slight worsening of parkinsonian features. Four patients showed no change in dyskinesia; among these, 2 patients showed worsening of parkinsonian features. One patient had slight worsening of dyskinesia without any change in parkinsonian features. The present study demonstrated that tandospirone is effective in alleviating L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in 50% of the patients. However, at the same time 50% patients showed slight worsening of parkinsonian features. Both the anti-dyskinetic effect and the worsening of parkinsonian features are thought to be induced by tandospirone's potent 5-HT1A agonistic activity. Diverse effect of tandospirone may be caused by its partial agonist activity on 5-HT1A receptors, or may indicate that other causes for the expression of dyskinesia exist apart from excessive rise in brain DA levels. Administration of a 5-HT1A agonist is a choice for patients with dyskinesia if the care is taken so as not to induce worsening of parkinsonian features. Further studies such as double-blind trials are needed to confirm the usefulness of a 5-HT1A agonist for L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia.