Fifteen Thai patients with
Parkinson's disease (7 females, 8 males) were enrolled in an open label trial of
pergolide (a new
dopamine agonist) to evaluate its safety and efficacy. Inpatients and outpatients from Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand from 1992 to 1994 were included in the study with a total duration of 18 weeks. Both de novo patients and patients who were being treated with
levodopa without
dopamine agonist and were obtaining a less than optimal response at both visit 1 and visit 2 were all enrolled in this study. At entry into the study, 3 patients had Hoehn and Yahr stage I, 7 patients at stage II, 3 patients at stage III, and 2 patients at stage IV.
Pergolide dosage was gradually built up until an optimal dosage was achieved. The average dose of
pergolide during the study was 0.94 mg/day (range 0.075 to 8 mg/day). All patients completed the study and no patients dropped out. Two patients (13.33 per cent) experienced
nausea (on 0.4 mg/day and 0.075 mg/day), two patients (13.33 per cent) experienced
sleepiness (0.50 mg/day and 0.075 mg/day) and one patient (6.67 per cent) unsteadiness on walking (0.50 mg/day). There was one patient who required
pergolide up to 8 mg/day which is higher than the recommended dosage (5 mg/day) but this patient experienced no adverse effects and his disabled dyskinesic was abolished. Our study demonstrated the good toleration and efficacy of
pergolide treatment for Thai patients with
Parkinson's disease. This new
dopamine agonist stimulates both D1 and D2 receptors in comparison to other
dopamine agonists (
bromocriptine and
lisuride) which stimulate only D2 receptors.