Pergolide: A dopamine agonist at both D 1 and D 2 receptors

Abstract

Pergolide is a potent, direct-acting dopamine agonist used in treating Parkinson's disease. It is an agonist found recently to have high affinity for D 3 receptors. The affinity of pergolide for D 1 receptors is lower than for D 2 receptors, and there have been some reports that it may not interact with D 1 receptors in vivo at doses used to activate D 2 receptors. A growing body of evidence suggests that pergolide does occupy and activate D 1 receptors in vivo , although the relevance to therapeutic efficacy in Parkinson's disease needs further study.