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2752887 
Journal Article 
Lupus like autoimmune syndrome after levodopa and benserazide 
Massarotti, G; Cassi, E; Passaleva, A 
1979 
Yes 
British Medical Journal (International Edition)
ISSN: 0959-8146
EISSN: 0959-535X 
IPA/80/370004 
Med 
REF 5 
1 
English 
IPA COPYRIGHT: ASHP A 62-yr-old male patient developed a lupus like autoimmune syndrome during treatment with a product containing levodopa and benserazide. The patient was prescribed levodopa 600 mg daily plus benserazide 150 mg daily for Parkinson's disease in July 1976. About 2 months after starting this treatment--which completely cleared the neurological symptoms--he presented with weakness, anorexia, diffuse joint pains, fever, butterfly erythema, erythema on the back, lumbosacral region, and anterior surface of the thighs, hepatomegaly, and mallolar edema. Withdrawal of treatment caused the subjective symptoms and fever to disappear. While the rapid onset of lupus like syndrome at low doses of levodopa suggests the triggering of latent systemic lupus erythematosus, the nearly complete remission after stopping the drugs points to an autoimmune origin. It seems most unlikely that benserazide in such small doses could have caused such a rapid onset of an immune syndrome.