Zonisamide: a new drug for Parkinson's disease.

Article Details

Citation

Murata M

Zonisamide: a new drug for Parkinson's disease.

Drugs Today (Barc). 2010 Apr;46(4):251-8. doi: 10.1358/dot.2010.46.4.1490077.

PubMed ID
20502722 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

Zonisamide, a benzisoxazole derivative, is an antiepileptic drug with a long half-life. Three nationwide, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies carried out in Japan prompted the approval of zonisamide as an antiparkinsonian agent in early 2009. The addition of zonisamide at 25-50 mg/day to currently used antiparkinsonian drugs significantly improved cardinal symptoms in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. The effects were maintained over more than 1 year even in patients with advanced disease. Zonisamide has multiple modes of action, and its effects on Parkinson's disease include activation of dopamine synthesis, inhibition of monoamine oxidase, inhibition of T-type calcium channels and inhibition of an indirect pathway in the basal ganglia through the delta opioid receptor. Furthermore, zonisamide exhibits neuroprotective effects in animal models of Parkinson's disease. It strongly inhibits quinoprotein formation and markedly increases glutathione S-transferase levels in the striatum by enhancing the astroglial cysteine transport system and/or astroglial proliferation via S100beta production and secretion.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Targets
DrugTargetKindOrganismPharmacological ActionActions
ZonisamideAmine oxidase [flavin-containing] AProteinHumans
Unknown
Inhibitor
Details
ZonisamideAmine oxidase [flavin-containing] BProteinHumans
Unknown
Inhibitor
Details
ZonisamideVoltage-dependent T-type calcium channel subunit alpha-1GProteinHumans
Yes
Inhibitor
Details
ZonisamideVoltage-dependent T-type calcium channel subunit alpha-1HProteinHumans
Yes
Inhibitor
Details
ZonisamideVoltage-dependent T-type calcium channel subunit alpha-1IProteinHumans
Yes
Inhibitor
Details