Once-daily Zelapar® (selegiline HCl) enhances the effects of levodopa/carbidopa therapy…

Zelapar is an MAO B inhibitor whose active ingredient is selegiline hydrochloride. Selegiline has been used as an add-on therapy for Parkinson’s disease for more than 30 years.

Put simply, selegiline makes more dopamine available in the brain by preventing its breakdown. Dopamine is the chemical in the brain responsible for the control of movement — the very substance that people with Parkinson’s disease need.

Levodopa, a dopamine replacer, is converted into dopamine by the brain. Adding Zelapar boosts the brain’s natural supply of dopamine. It is added to levodopa/carbidopa treatment to help manage the symptoms of PD when there is a reduced response to this therapy.

...without some of the downfalls associated with traditional forms of selegiline.

One concern with traditional selegiline is that so much of the active drug is broken down during digestion that too little reaches the brain to be effective. Increasing the dose to deliver more drug to the brain also increases the level of metabolites (including amphetamine and methamphetamine, substances associated with toxicity) made during digestion.

Zelapar is a new form of selegiline that passes through the body in a different way. Zelapar tablets dissolve within seconds in the mouth, and the active drug moves into the bloodstream to the brain. Because the digestive system is bypassed, there are fewer metabolites and side effects.