Piribedil is a dopamine receptor agonist.1,2,3,4 It binds to dopamine D2, D3, and D4 receptors (IC50s = 1-1,000 nM in radioligand binding assays).1 Piribedil (1 and 10 mg/kg) enhances spontaneous object recognition in young adult rats and attenuates age-related memory impairments in the radial arm maze in mice.2 It reduces immobility time in the forced swim test in mice when administered at doses ranging from 0.63 to 10 mg/kg.3 Piribedil (0.3 mg/kg) decreases the number of premature and delayed responses in a response time test, indicating improved attentional function, in a rat model of Parkinson's disease induced by 6-OHDA when administered in combination with L-DOPA .4
1.Cagnotto, A., Parotti, L., and Mennini, T.In vitro affinity of piribedil for dopamine D3 receptor subtypes, an autoradiographic studyEur. J. Pharmacol.313(1-2)63-67(1996) 2.Marighetto, A., Valerio, S., Philippin, J.N., et al.Comparative effects of the dopaminergic agonists piribedil and bromocriptine in three different memory paradigms in rodentsJ. Psychopharmacol.22(5)511-521(2008) 3.Brocco, M., Dekeyne, A., Papp, M., et al.Antidepressant-like properties of the anti-Parkinson agent, piribedil, in rodents: Mediation by dopamine D2 receptorsBehav. Pharmacol.17(7)559-572(2006) 4.Turle-Lorenzo, N., Maurin, B., Puma, C., et al.The dopamine agonist piribedil with L-DOPA improves attentional dysfunction: Relevance for Parkinson's diseaseJ. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.319(2)914-923(2006)