LEVODOPA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does levodopa mean? 

• LEVODOPA (noun)
  The noun LEVODOPA has 1 sense:

1. the levorotatory form of dopa (trade names Bendopa and Brocadopa and Larodopa); as a drug it is used to treat Parkinson's disease

  Familiarity information: LEVODOPA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEVODOPA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The levorotatory form of dopa (trade names Bendopa and Brocadopa and Larodopa); as a drug it is used to treat Parkinson's disease

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

Bendopa; Brocadopa; L-dopa; Larodopa; levodopa

Hypernyms ("levodopa" is a kind of...):

dihydroxyphenylalanine; dopa (amino acid that is formed in the liver and converted into dopamine in the brain)

 Context examples 

Levodopa is a prodrug that is converted to dopamine by DOPA decarboxylase and can cross the blood-brain barrier.

(Levodopa, NCI Thesaurus)

Carbidopa does not penetrate the blood brain barrier so that levodopa, after it reaches the brain, can be metabolized to dopamine by dopa decarboxylase where it exerts its effect on dopamine receptors.

(Carbidopa, NCI Thesaurus)

Carbidopa, a peripheral dopa decarboxylase inhibitor, is used as an adjunct with levodopa to prevent levodopa degradation to dopamine in extracerebral tissue, thereby decreasing the peripheral side effects of levodopa.

(Carbidopa Anhydrous, NCI Thesaurus)

When in the brain, levodopa is decarboxylated to dopamine and stimulates the dopaminergic receptors, thereby compensating for the depleted supply of endogenous dopamine seen in Parkinson's disease.

(Levodopa, NCI Thesaurus)

Carbidopa is a peripheral dopa decarboxylase inhibitor that is used as an adjunct to levodopa administration to prevent peripheral biosynthesis of levodopa to dopamine, thereby reducing peripheral side effects.

(Carbidopa, NCI Thesaurus)

Carbidopa does not penetrate the blood brain barrier; therefore, it does not interfere with the central nervous system (CNS) metabolism of levodopa to the active neurotransmitter dopamine which, in high concentrations in the brain, has anti-parkinsonian effects.

(Carbidopa Anhydrous, NCI Thesaurus)

To assure that adequate concentrations of levodopa reach the central nervous system, it is administered with carbidopa, a decarboxylase inhibitor that does not cross the blood-brain barrier, thereby diminishing the decarboxylation and inactivation of levodopa in peripheral tissues and increasing the delivery of dopamine to the CNS.

(Levodopa, NCI Thesaurus)