Levodopa (L-dopa) is the most common treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). Systemically administered L-dopa has side effects including nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, and restlessness. Many studies have shown that patients who take systemic L-dopa over time are prone to hallucinations and delusions. This is because L-dopa increases the synthesis of dopamine in all dopamine-producing cells, causing a dopamine increase throughout the brain and not just in the dopamine-producing cells involved in PD. The focus of this project is on developing a methodology to synthesize poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles to trap L-dopa with a high percent efficiency. Using our synthetic scheme, we were able to encapsulate L-dopa into the PLGA nanoparticles with 99.9% efficiency. The current project is a proof of concept with the ultimate therapeutic goal of creating a technology that can be used to deliver L-dopa directly to the dopamine neurons that are affected by PD, thus reducing or eliminating the side effects associated with systemically administered L-dopa.

Developing methodology to improve Parkinson's disease treatment: Encapsulating L-dopa with polymer nanoparticles

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.