[Ropinirol: a new dopamine agonist in the treatment of Parkinson's disease].

Ropinirol is a novel dopamine agonist recently marketed for treatment of Parkinson's disease. Compared with available dopamine agonists, ropinirole possesses 3 novel structural properties which may be relevant in terms of clinical benefit: a) it is the first dopamine agonist with a non-ergolic structure, therefore it may be devoid of some infrequent side-effects of ergolic agonists, such as retroperitoneal fibrosis; b) ropinirole is unique compared to other agonists due to stric selectivity for D2 receptors, a property that may decrease levodopa-induced dyskinesias, and c) as ropinirole does not activate serotonin receptors, it may theoretically cause less neuropsychiatric side-effects in late stages of the disease. Available clinical trials indicate that ropinirole may be effective as monotherapy during early stages in patients not severely disabled, and may also decrease the extent and severity of akinetic periods in fluctuating patients. More information is needed, however, on patients prolongedly exposed to ropinirol as well as about its antiparkinsonian potency compared with those agonists already available.