LEVODOPA FORMULATIONS FOR RAPID RELIEF OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

摘要

The present invention provides methods of providing rapid relief of motor fluctuations in a Parkinson's disease patient. The methods of the invention comprise pulmonary administration of levodopa by inhalation at therapeutically effective concentrations such that the patient's plasma levodopa concentration increases by at least about 200 ng/ml within 10 minutes or less post inhalation as compared to the concentration of levodopa in the patient's plasma prior to inhalation of the levodopa and wherein the patient's plasma concentration remains increased by at least about 200 ng/ml for a time period of at least 15 minutes after inhalation. The methods of the invention are particularly useful for treatment of motor fluctuations which arise as a result of poorly controlled levodopa plasma levels in a patient.