Possible Interaction: Homocysteine and Levodopa

“Our results showed that levodopa treatment may cause a slight increase in the Hcy levels in PD compared with dopamine agonists and that COMT inhibitors may not have a significant effect on preventing hyperhomocysteinemia.”

“Increased Hcy levels have been observed in levodopa‐treated patients with PD.”

“This may hypothetically reduce homocysteine mediated progress of neuronal degeneration and the risk for onset of dementia, vascular disease and polyneuropathy in levodopa treated PD patients in the long term.”

“We conclude that levodopa treatment increases plasma Hcy and the addition of COMT‐I effectively reduces HHcy.”

“Analysis of data revealed that L-dopa administration significantly increases Hcy concentrations and that the addition of COMT-I effectively reduces the homocysteinemia.”

“INTRODUCTION High levels of homocysteine linked to treatment with levodopa have been observed in patients with Parkinsons disease (PD).”

“Results: Homocysteine rose during levodopa- and placebo administration.”

“Other conditions that may increase Hcy levels include aging, obesity, diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, some medications ( levodopa , anti-epileptics, anti-gastric reflux agents), and toxic substances such as tobacco and alcohol.”

“Parkinson's disease (PD) patients are treated with levodopa (l‐dopa) to help stabilize their impaired motor abilities; however, l‐dopa leads to increased homocysteine (Hcy) levels, which may have a deleterious effect on brain structure and function.”

“Specifically, methylmalonic acid and homocysteine can accumulate in levodopa degradation and have been related to neuronal and vascular risk, respectively [6–8].”