APOMORPHINE AND PARKINSON’S DISEASE History of apomorphine The early reported synthesis of apomorphine was by Arppe in 1845 and later by Matthiesen and Wright in 1869 which involved reacting morphine with hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid respectively ((Art 2 from 218). Thereafter, apomorphine had found its use in veterinary therapeutics to treat problems associated with behavior of farmyard animals. By 1874, it was known that apomorphine led to emetic effects along with various effects influencing the central nervous system. In medicine, it was recommended as emetic, sedative, as well as treatment for narcotic and alcohol addiction. Weil in 1884 suggested apomorphine for its potential use in treating Parkinson’s disease (14 from 218). Schwab and his co-workers and Cotzias (17 and 18 from 218) confirmed Weil’s suggestion where they found a significant decrease in tremors and rigidity associated with Parkinson’s disease. (ART 11 and 12 from 11). Physicochemical properties of …show more content…
Oxidation of apomorphine is one of the challenges when it is formulated as aqueous solutions. It spontaneously undergoes oxidative decomposition in aqueous solution to yield a bluish-green color in presence of light and air (Art 31 and Burkman et al., 1963a; 1963b from Art 66). The catechol group of the apomorphine molecule is susceptible for oxidation to form a quinone (Art 66, 31, and 5 from Art 31). The decomposition of apomorphine is dependent on its concentration, pH and temperature of the solution (Art 147, 31). The chemical half-life is reported to be 39 min in conditions similar to that of plasma (at 37 ºC and pH 7.4) (Art 147). The additions of antioxidants or chelating agents which chelate oxidants or alteration of the formulation pH are some approaches reported in literature to prevent the autooxidation (Wilcox et al., 1988 from Art 66, 44 to 46 in Art