The norepinephrine precursor L-threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine facilitates motor recovery in chronic stroke patients.

L-threo-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylserine (L-DOPS) is a precursor of norepinephrine. We reported that administration of L-DOPS to rats with ablation of the right sensorimotor cortex results in functional recovery from deficits in beam-walking performance. We al so reported that improvement in Fugl-Meyer Score (FMS) was significantly higher in an L-DOPS-treated group of chronic neurologically stable stroke patients than in a control group for 2 days. In the present study, 27 patients who had suffered from stroke more than one month previously and had exhibited no improvement in neurological deficits for at least one week were administered 300mg/day L-DOPS for 28 days with rehabilitation. FMS improved by 4.4 points (P< 0.001), 10m gait time was shortened by 16% (P< 0.001) and the cerebral blood flow of the lesion was increased (P< 0.03), after 28 days of drug administration. These findings suggest that L-DOPS is effective in restoring neurological deficit, which does not usually recover when only treated with rehabilitation therapy.