[Current therapeutic approach in Parkinson disease]

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized mainly by a loss of the dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway. The symptomatic treatment, which consists of the supply of the deficient neurotransmitter dopamine, does not, however, prevent the progression of the disease and is frequently associated with major motor and psychiatric side effects. Recent basic and clinical investigations have led to the development of new therapeutical strategies for Parkinson's disease. The authors review and describe these new approaches which include: [1] treatments aimed at slowing down the progression of the disease, [2] treatments aimed at decreasing the motor side effects and [3] the use of intracerebral transplantations.