Choosing dopamine agonists in Parkinson's disease

Dopamine agonists (DAs) have been shown to be effective as monotherapy in e arly stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) and as an adjunctive treatment to l evodopa in advanced PD. Since bromocriptine, an ergot compound, was introdu ced as the first commercially available DA more than 25 years ago, addition al DAs have become available for clinical use. There is a remarkable paucit y of data, however, that would guide clinicians in their decision process t o select the most appropriate DAs. We discuss the theoretical basis for com paring the various DAs, and provide a concise analysis and summary of compa rative trials of DAs in PD.