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Co-administration of budipine with levodopa increases dopamine levels Budipine, when used in combination with levodopa therapy in Parkinson's disease (PD), significantly increases dopamine levels in the brain. When administered to the nigra area in the brain, budipine caused a small rise in dopamine recovery in rats, but not in those pretreated with reserpine (the neurotoxicant used to induce PD symptoms), and alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine (alpha-MPT, used to limit dopamine synthesis from levodopa). However, when levodopa is administered to the nigra in reserpine-alpha-MPT-treated rats, dopamine levels are increased, and co-administration of budipine further enhances the levodopa-induced dopamine increase. Pretreating rats with budipine for 1 hour also significantly raised the activity of the enzyme L-aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (the enzyme used to convert levodopa to dopamine) in the striata and nigras of the intact rats, as well as in rats pretreated with reserpine alone. From these results, the investigators concluded that the beneficial effects of budipine, when used as an adjunct to levodopa therapy of PD, may be due to an increase in the bioconversion of levodopa to dopamine. Source: Biggs CS, et al. Synapse 1998; 30(3): 309-317.