Effects of female sex steroids on Parkinson's disease in postmenopausal women.
There are conflicting reports about estrogen modulating the activity of
nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons.
Furthermore, modulation may be influenced by progesterone levels.
Therefore, the clinical effects of sex steroids on parkinsonian symptoms in
postmenopausal women with Parkinson's disease (PD) were analyzed in the
present study.
Patients (n = 12) were under the age of 80, able to perform the motor
function tests, and showed no contraindications for estrogen suppletion.
Motor function was assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating
Scale (UPDRS) and a patient interview on subjective changes.
In a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trial lasting 8 weeks, no
significant dopaminergic effect of estradiol (E2) could be demonstrated,
whereas in an open trial phase lasting 2 weeks, progesterone seemed to have
an antidopaminergic effect.
Several mechanisms are discussed that can account for the fact that we
found no effect of E2 on motor functioning in our patients with PD.
Clin Neuropharmacol 1999 Mar-Apr;22(2):93-7
Strijks E, Kremer JA, Horstink MW
Department of Neurology, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
PMID: 10202604, UI: 99218929
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
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