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> Carole Hercun wrote: > > > > Hi Joe: But wouldn't the potential benefits of > > alternate delivery systems of levodopa be enormous? > > Other drugs are more efficient when delivered IM or > > IV, or by skin patch or intra nasally. They deliver > > chemotherapy directly to to the brain. Why not bypass > > the blood/brain barrier with levodopa? Enlighten me. > > All the routes you mention depend on reaching the brain via the blood > (the "blood-brain barrier" is in the capillaries there). There is now > some research on delivering drugs to the brain via an implanted duct. > So far it has worked in monkeys but not in human subjects. (CSR OCT 99): Kordower J et al; Ann Neur 1999;46:419-424: One aspect of the current trials of Glial-Cell-Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) is its delivery to the desired site within the brain. Death from unrelated causes of one PD patient who received monthly injections into the right lateral ventricle permitted a detailed postmortem study. His PD symptoms had not improved, and there was no evidence either of neuroregeneration or of GDNF diffusing into relevant brain structures, so they need to find a better delivery scheme. I forgot to mention, levodopa does cross the blood-brain barrier, dopamine doesn't. Cheers, Joe -- J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013