ouch

You could try this, but I can guarantee the results..

Using PHPMyAdmin you can copy your links table (the one that ends with _links)
so you have a back up, just in case.

You can then edit the character set used on the description column, try changing it to UTF8 and check your RSS feed, as well as the rest of your DNPL installation to make sure every thing is ok.

If not, you can drop your links table and rename the backup you made to the original name.