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Dopaminergic agonists have been usually used as adjunctive therapy for the cure of Parkinson's disease (PD). It is generally believed that treatment with these drugs is symptomatic rather then curative and does not stop or delay the progression of neuronal degeneration. However, several DA agonists of the DA D2-receptor family (including D2, D3 and D4-subtypes) have recently been shown to possess neuroprotective properties in different in vitro and in vivo experimental PD models. Here we summarize some recent data from our and other groups underlining the wide pharmacological spectrum of DA agonists currently used for treating PD patients. In particular, the mechanism of action of different DA agonists does not appear to be restricted to the stimulation of selective DA receptor subtypes being these drugs endowed with intrinsic, independent, and peculiar antioxidant effects. This activity may represent an additional pharmacological property contributing to their clinical efficacy in PD.

Here we demonstrate that pramipexole, an antiparkinsonian dopamine receptor agonist drug, exerts neuroprotective effects against beta-amyloid neurotoxicity. Using a specific protocol to test individually oligomers, fibrils, or unaggregated amyloid beta-peptide, we found pramipexole able to protect cells against oligomers and fibrils. Unaggregated amyloid beta-peptide was found unable to cause cell death. Fibrils and oligomers were also found to produce elevated amount of free radicals, and this effect was prevented by pramipexole. We propose pramipexole may become in the future a coadjuvant in the treatment of neuropathologies, besides Parkinson's disease, where amyloid beta-peptide-mediated oxidative injury exerts a relevant role.

This study concerned a group of ex-workers (372 males and 99 females) from a firm situated in Bergamo (Italy) that ceased its activity at the beginning of the Nineties. From an introductory analysis of the results, we found out that there isn't excess in the death-rate for liver and bile ducts cancers among the males of this group. Among them, for what concerns the other tumoral pathologies, such as leukaemia and stomach tumors, the information allowed to verify an excess of mortality. However, this increase hasn't result statistically significant. On the contrary, it came out that there is an excess of risk for intestine tumors: standardized death-rate of 2.58. In accordance with the information collected, for the future it will be necessary to carefully examine the research in order to verify the existence of a direct connection to the exposure at PCB and study the incidence (not only for mortality) of these neoplasms.