Safinamide: a new hope for Parkinson's disease?
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Abstract |
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The loss of dopaminergic neurons (DAn) and reduced dopamine (DA) production underlies the reasoning behind the gold standard treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) using levodopa (L-DOPA). Recently licensed by the European Medicine Agency (EMA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), safinamide [a monoamine oxidase B (MOA-B) inhibitor] is an alternative to L-DOPA; as we discuss here, it enhances dopaminergic transmission with decreased secondary effects compared with L-DOPA. In addition, nondopaminergic actions (neuroprotective effects) have been reported, with safinamide inhibiting glutamate release and sodium/calcium channels, reducing the excitotoxic input to dopaminergic neuronal death. Effects of safinamide have been correlated with the amelioration of non-motor symptoms (NMS), although these remain under discussion. Overall, safinamide can be considered to have potential antidyskinetic and neuroprotective effects and future trials and/or studies should be performed to provide further evidence for its potential as an anti-PD drug. |
Year of Publication |
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2018
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Journal |
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Drug discovery today
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Date Published |
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2018
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ISSN Number |
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1359-6446
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URL |
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http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1359-6446(17)30426-9
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DOI |
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10.1016/j.drudis.2018.01.033
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Short Title |
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Drug Discov Today
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