Nicotinamidadenindinucleotide (NADH): the new approach in the therapy of Parkinson's disease

The coenzyme Nicotinamidadenindinucleotide (NADH) has been used as novel medication in 34 Parkinson patients in an open label trial. In all patients, a beneficial clinical effect was observed. Twenty-one patients (61.7 percent) showed a very good (better than 30 percent) improvement of disability and 13 patients (38.3 percent) a moderate (up to 30 percent) improvement. The effect of NADH was dependent on the dosage and the severity of the case. The best therapeutic dose was in the range of 25 to 50 mg per day. The clinical improvement was more pronounced after i.v. and less after i.m. administration. Concomitant with improvement of the disability, the urine level of homovanillinic acid (HVA) increased significantly in all patients (in some patients by more than a 100 percent), indicating a stimulation of the endogenous L-DOPA biosynthesis. The daily "on phases" of the patients could be increased from two up to nine hours in the individual patients by NADH administration.