NAPLEX Pharmacy Exam Prep

Category - Medication

Why is carbidopa added to levodopa for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease?
  1. It prevents degradation of levodopa in the periphery.
  2. It minimizes some of the side effects of levodopa used alone.
  3. Addition of carbidopa stabilizes levodopa by interfering with Phase III metabolism.
  4. Carbidopa complexes with levodopa to allow increased solubility.
Explanation
Answer: A. Carbidopa is a dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor and thus prevents levodopa degradation by that enzyme in the periphery (levodopa is a dopamine analog). The other statements are not true.
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