Table (1).

Levodopa vs dopamine agonists.

	Levodopa	Dopamine Agonists
Neurotoxic or Neuroprotective effects	In-vitro: high dose: toxic low dose: possible protective in vivo or PD patients: no evidence of either toxic or protective effects	In-vitro or in-vivo: Possible protective effects In PD patients: No evidence of protective effects
Early PD: Initial treatment
Short-term outcomes (3-5 years)	More motor fluctuations and dyskinesias	Less motor fluctuations and dyskinesias
	Earlier onset of dyskinesias	Delayed onset of dyskinesias
	Better motor efficacy	Lower motor efficacy
Long-term outcomes (>5 years)	Similar prevalence of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias
	Better motor efficacy	Lower motor efficacy
Advanced PD: CDC choices	Both improve quality of life, motor dysfunction and motor complications.
	Greater improvement in NMSS total score	Greater improvement in mood and apathy scores of NMSS
Side-effects	More motor complications	More non-motor side-effects

PD, Parkinson's disease; CDC, Continuous dopaminergic delivery; NMSS, the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale.