kittylikker_ t1_j8h10tl wrote on February 14, 2023 at 6:11 AM

Reply to comment by Current-Ad6521 in Why do dopamine reuptake inhibitors not treat Parkinson's disease? by unripenedboyparts

So, it is my understanding that Duadopa is supposed to be less likely to induce tardive dyskinesia than oral ingestion of Levadopa. Is this because it's pumped directly to the GI system? How would it have a positive effect on the lungs & heart that way? And is there a reason that tryptophan isn't used in the treatment of Parkinson's?

Feline_Diabetes t1_j8he7w7 wrote on February 14, 2023 at 9:12 AM

Tryptophan usually is the precursor to serotonin so wouldn't generally affect dopamine production.

Tyrosine is the main AA for dopamine, but its conversion to L-DOPA is the rate-limiting step, so supplementing it doesn't really help. You need to give L-DOPA to bypass that reaction if you want to bump dopamine levels.