[Polygraphic recording of tremor and of hypertonic phenomena. Application to the action of various drugs].

The recording technique described makes possible the detailed analysis of hypertonia and tremor in Parkinson's disease, as well as the action of different drugs. It may contribute to the understanding of the physiopathological basis of these motor disturbances and the mode of action of anti-parkinsonian drugs. It also represents a reliable method of repeated observation, independent of subjective factors, in the evaluation of the long-term effectiveness of a medication. We were particularly concerned with the evaluation and comparison of the effect of different drugs in the course of a short study, involving the administration of a single dose of the medications used. In this way were studied: Apomorphine, given sub-cutaneously in non-emetic doses, which decreases in a constant and spectacular fashion both tremor and hypertonia ; Piribedil (1-3 mg IV) ; L-Dopa (100 mg IV) ; Ro-080576/007 F in a dose of one capsule containing 200 mg of L-Dopa and 50 mg of L-dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor. The effect of these various medications was invariable greater than that of a placebo and lasted much longer. With these doses, and under the special experimental conditions of this study, Piribedil was better tolerated and in general more active than L-dopa, in particular in relation to tremor. The action observed in the course of this short study prior to treatment might, to a certain extent, make it possible to predict the effect of long-term treatment.