Pregnenolone for the Treatment of L-DOPA-Induced Dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease

March 2023 in “ Experimental neurology ”

Sara Corsi, Simona Scheggi, Alessandra Pardu, Giulia Braccagni, Donatella Caruso, Lucia Cioffi, Silvia Diviccaro, Gentile Mauro, Silvia Fanni, Roberto Stancampiano, Carla Gambarana, Melcangi Roberto Cosimo, Roberto Frau, Manolo Carta

TLDR Pregnenolone might help manage movement issues caused by Parkinson's disease treatment without reducing the medicine's effectiveness.

The document presents a study on the effects of pregnenolone (PREG), a neurosteroid, on L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease using a rat model. The study found that PREG dose-dependently reduced dyskinesia without affecting the therapeutic efficacy of L-DOPA. The most effective dose was 18 mg/kg, which showed results from the first day of treatment. The study also found that PREG prevented the increase of certain dyskinesia markers and reduced striatal BDNF levels, a factor associated with the development of dyskinesia. The study concluded that PREG could potentially be used to manage L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease.

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