dopamine pump for parkinson's?

Question

So i have been researching parkinson's disease lately, and at the different therapies. parkinson's is caused by death of cells that make dopamine in the brain. since you can't take dopamine orally because of the BBB, i was thinking an obvious solution would be a dopamine drug pump across the BBB. i know they have done drug pumps in the brain before so it would be possible to make a device, and it seems like it would treat the disease well. it would be pretty invasive, but people with parkinson's already get things like deep brain stimulation and ablation. i could find nothing online about why this wouldnt work, or even if it had been tried before. anybody know anything?

Update:

Im pretty sure they have done catheters in the brain itself for brain cancer treatment. maybe it wouldnt be able to disperse well still. i dunno.

Juan · Accepted Answer

From what I understand, drug pumps deliver a drug into the fluid surrounding your spinal cord and not directly into your brain. This would not be useful for Parkinson's because it is caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, a structure located in the brain. In addition, there is something called the cerebrospinal fluid barrier. "However, drugs delivered directly to the CSF do not effectively penetrate into the brain tissue itself, possibly due to the tortuous nature of the interstitial space in the brain." I'm assuming that the reason that this is true is because of the existence of the cerebrospinal fluid barrier, among other things.

An interesting idea nonetheless!

Edit: I found this article that backed up your point: http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/brain-tumor-adults/chemotherapy.html

It would ensure that dopamine gets to where it needs to go, unlike dopamine agonists or pro-drugs that would have a lot of PNS side effects. However, CNS effects caused by increased dopamine levels like psychosis might increase. This is the only issue I can see with this. That and maybe practicality. I'm not sure how much it costs to have catheters installed in your brain or cranial arteries but it sounds expensive. Still a really cool idea.

Anonymous · Answer

You described a great reason why i quit meds for most of the same feelings! I do think coming off meds is great step for being "normal" again and at least feeling it. You may not need meds again, but you will need to let your GOOD friends and family around you know how you feel almost daily and if they see any negativity in you to monitor closely...Be open as much as u can with your feelings...I think you will get feeling back in most that is lost but not all- i believe the meds do permanently change hormones and natural structures...You seem solid- try to maintain. Meds prolly cause all kinds of health risks and such...

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dopamine pump for parkinson's?

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