Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Canadian Family Physician logoLink to Canadian Family Physician
. 1991 May;37:1231–1236.

Selegiline and the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

How patients can benefit from drug therapy

JS Richardson
PMCID: PMC2145357  PMID: 21229030

Abstract

Parkinson's disease involves the progressive degeneration of dopamine neurons in the extrapyramidal motor system. Levodopa, the metabolic precursor of dopamine, relieves symptoms but does not prevent continued cell death. Research suggests that monoamine oxidase B inhibitors, such as selegiline, should benefit Parkinson's patients. Evidence to date indicates that selegiline improves the effectiveness of levodopa and may even slow cell death.

Full text

PDF
1231

Images in this article

1233p1233-a
on p.1233

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barbeau A., Roy M., Bernier G., Campanella G., Paris S. Ecogenetics of Parkinson's disease: prevalence and environmental aspects in rural areas. Can J Neurol Sci. 1987 Feb;14(1):36–41. doi: 10.1017/s0317167100026147. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barbeau A., Roy M., Cloutier T., Plasse L., Paris S. Environmental and genetic factors in the etiology of Parkinson's disease. Adv Neurol. 1987;45:299–306. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Birkmayer W., Knoll J., Riederer P., Youdim M. B., Hars V., Marton J. Increased life expectancy resulting from addition of L-deprenyl to Madopar treatment in Parkinson's disease: a longterm study. J Neural Transm. 1985;64(2):113–127. doi: 10.1007/BF01245973. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Braughler J. M., Pregenzer J. F., Chase R. L., Duncan L. A., Jacobsen E. J., McCall J. M. Novel 21-amino steroids as potent inhibitors of iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. J Biol Chem. 1987 Aug 5;262(22):10438–10440. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chiba K., Trevor A., Castagnoli N., Jr Metabolism of the neurotoxic tertiary amine, MPTP, by brain monoamine oxidase. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1984 Apr 30;120(2):574–578. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(84)91293-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dexter D. T., Wells F. R., Lees A. J., Agid F., Agid Y., Jenner P., Marsden C. D. Increased nigral iron content and alterations in other metal ions occurring in brain in Parkinson's disease. J Neurochem. 1989 Jun;52(6):1830–1836. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1989.tb07264.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dormandy T. L. Free-radical pathology and medicine. A review. J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1989 Oct;23(4):221–227. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dyck P. J. Hypoxic neuropathy: does hypoxia play a role in diabetic neuropathy? The 1988 Robert Wartenberg lecture. Neurology. 1989 Jan;39(1):111–118. doi: 10.1212/wnl.39.1.111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Elizan T. S., Yahr M. D., Moros D. A., Mendoza M. R., Pang S., Bodian C. A. Selegiline as an adjunct to conventional levodopa therapy in Parkinson's disease. Experience with this type B monoamine oxidase inhibitor in 200 patients. Arch Neurol. 1989 Dec;46(12):1280–1283. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1989.00520480022013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Golbe L. I., Di Iorio G., Bonavita V., Miller D. C., Duvoisin R. C. A large kindred with autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease. Ann Neurol. 1990 Mar;27(3):276–282. doi: 10.1002/ana.410270309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Grimes J. D., Hassan M. N., Thakar J. Antioxidant therapy in Parkinson's disease. Can J Neurol Sci. 1987 Aug;14(3 Suppl):483–487. doi: 10.1017/s0317167100037951. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Halliwell B. Oxidants and the central nervous system: some fundamental questions. Is oxidant damage relevant to Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic injury or stroke? Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1989;126:23–33. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1989.tb01779.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Knoll J. Deprenyl (selegiline): the history of its development and pharmacological action. Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1983;95:57–80. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1983.tb01517.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kopin I. J. Toxins and Parkinson's disease: MPTP parkinsonism in humans and animals. Adv Neurol. 1987;45:137–144. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lang A. E. Update on dopamine agonists in Parkinson's disease: "beyond bromocriptine". Can J Neurol Sci. 1987 Aug;14(3 Suppl):474–482. doi: 10.1017/s031716710003794x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Langston J. W., Ballard P., Tetrud J. W., Irwin I. Chronic Parkinsonism in humans due to a product of meperidine-analog synthesis. Science. 1983 Feb 25;219(4587):979–980. doi: 10.1126/science.6823561. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lees A. J., Frankel J., Eatough V., Stern G. M. New approaches in the use of selegiline for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1989;126:139–145. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1989.tb01793.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Müller A., Cadenas E., Graf P., Sies H. A novel biologically active seleno-organic compound--I. Glutathione peroxidase-like activity in vitro and antioxidant capacity of PZ 51 (Ebselen). Biochem Pharmacol. 1984 Oct 15;33(20):3235–3239. doi: 10.1016/0006-2952(84)90083-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rajput A. H., Uitti R. J., Stern W., Laverty W. Early onset Parkinson's disease and childhood environment. Adv Neurol. 1987;45:295–297. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schapira A. H., Cooper J. M., Dexter D., Clark J. B., Jenner P., Marsden C. D. Mitochondrial complex I deficiency in Parkinson's disease. J Neurochem. 1990 Mar;54(3):823–827. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1990.tb02325.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Shoulson I. Deprenyl and tocopherol antioxidative therapy of parkinsonism (DATATOP). Parkinson Study Group. Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1989;126:171–175. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1989.tb01798.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Steventon G. B., Heafield M. T., Waring R. H., Williams A. C. Xenobiotic metabolism in Parkinson's disease. Neurology. 1989 Jul;39(7):883–887. doi: 10.1212/wnl.39.7.883. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Steventon G., Humfrey C., Sturman S., Waring R. H., Williams A. C. Monoamine oxidase B and Parkinson's disease. Lancet. 1990 Jan 20;335(8682):180–180. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)90063-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Subbarao K. V., Richardson J. S., Ang L. C. Autopsy samples of Alzheimer's cortex show increased peroxidation in vitro. J Neurochem. 1990 Jul;55(1):342–345. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1990.tb08858.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Tanner C. M., Chen B., Wang W., Peng M., Liu Z., Liang X., Kao L. C., Gilley D. W., Goetz C. G., Schoenberg B. S. Environmental factors and Parkinson's disease: a case-control study in China. Neurology. 1989 May;39(5):660–664. doi: 10.1212/wnl.39.5.660. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Tetrud J. W., Langston J. W. The effect of deprenyl (selegiline) on the natural history of Parkinson's disease. Science. 1989 Aug 4;245(4917):519–522. doi: 10.1126/science.2502843. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Youdim M. B., Ashkenazi R., Ben-Shachar D., Yehuda S. Modulation of dopamine receptor in the striatum by iron: behavioral and biochemical correlates. Adv Neurol. 1984;40:159–170. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Youdim M. B., Ben-Shachar D., Riederer P. Is Parkinson's disease a progressive siderosis of substantia nigra resulting in iron and melanin induced neurodegeneration? Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1989;126:47–54. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1989.tb01782.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Family Physician are provided here courtesy of College of Family Physicians of Canada

RESOURCES