Nutzen von Pharmakokinetik-und Pharmakogenetik-wissen für die Parkinson-Therapie

Current therapeutic strategies for Parkinsons disease (PD) focus primarily on reducing the severity of its symptoms using dopaminergic medications including treatment with L-DOPA (levodopa, L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) and peripheral aromatic amino acid decarboxylase and catcholamine-O- methyltransferase inhibitors, dopamine receptor agonists, and selective monoamine oxidase type B inhibitors. However, each patient can show different responses (efficacy, side effects) to the administered drug medication. The main processes that determine the variability of response to a drug are pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics. Pharmacokinetics is defined as the study of the time course of drugs and their metabolites through the body that is determined by the effect of the body to the drug. Main events involved in pharmacokinetics include the processes absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion. Pharmacogentics is defined as the study of the genetic distribution to the variability in drug response. Knowledge of these areas can be instrumental in individualising dosage regimens for specific patients. This paper reviews the benefit of current knowledge of pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics for the treatment of PD.