Posted by JohnX on February 18, 2001, at 18:43:09
In reply to Wellbutrin SR Dopamine/Parkinson's, posted by terra miller on February 17, 2001, at 22:22:08
> Does anybody know what the Dopamine does that the Wellbutrin SR effects? I understand its effect on Serotonin and Norepinephrine. But I don't understand this dopamine thing. This is naive, but I'm not wanting to develop Parkinson's down the road. Can anyone educate me about Wellbutrin SR and why it targets so many neuroreceptor sites? Thanks so much.
>
> terraTerra,
I wouldn't worry about getting Parkinson's from
Wellbutrin. Did you read this somewhere?
In fact researchers did some studies to see
if Wellbutrin may help Parkinson patients but
the results showed no effect + or -.Wellbutrin (Bupropion) is really what is called
a pro-drug. That means that the parent compound
Bupropion really doesn't have much affect; it
is an extremely weak re-uptake inhibitor at
any site. The liver breaks Bupropion into
metabolites which do most of the work. The
mechanism of action of Bupropion is not well understand. However, the last report that I
read indicated that the metabolite
hydroxy-bupropion likely does most of its work
through norepinephrine re-uptake and a possible
genomic mechanism that reduces the production
of norepinephrine and dopamine in some areas
of the brain (but this is reversable upon
termination of the medication). Most of the
action is not in the area of the brain that would
interfere with the substantia-niagra (hope I spelled it right) where parkinson's is caused.For responders at therapeutic doses, the report indicated that bupropion nor its metabolites had
much action on dopamine reuptake either. The
genomic mechanism may somehow be involved in
the increased sensitization of dopamine in the
limbic part of the brain (the reward center).Serotonin is hardly touched by Wellbutrin. That's
why it is safe to use it in conjunction with
SSRI's (normally not safe to combine SSRI's).BTW, SSRI's are more likely to induce Parkinson's
like symptoms, although the chances are rare.
There are serotonin neurons in the substantia-
niagra that will decrease dopamine
in response to an increase in serotonin.
However,the dopamine neurons have a feedback
mechanism that generally allows them to adjust to
this push/pull effect.-John
poster:JohnX
thread:54286
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010212/msgs/54330.html