Impact of levodopa on reduced nerve growth factor levels in patients with Parkinson disease
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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Rating L-DOPA-Induced Dyskinesias in the Unilaterally 6-OHDA-Lesioned Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease
Published on: October 4, 2021
Thomas Müller1, Undine E Lang, Siegfried Muhlack
1Department of Neurology, St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. thomas.mueller@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Abstract:
The author s found 6.5-fold reduced nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in the plasma of treated patients with Parkinson disease (PD) compared with healthy control subjects (P = 0.03). A significant positive correlation between levodopa and NGF plasma levels appeared after acute levodopa/benserazide administration. The data suggest that acute levodopa administration may contribute to an increase of NGF plasma concentrations, which are reduced in treated PD patients due to the ongoing disease process itself or chronic antiparkinsonian drug treatment.
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