Inhaled levodopa in Parkinson's disease patients with OFF periods: A randomized 12-month pulmonary safety study.

Introduction: CVT-301 is an orally inhaled levodopa therapy approved for the intermittent treatment of OFF episodes in Parkinson's disease patients who are taking a standard oral levodopa regimen. This open-label, randomized, controlled study over 12 months characterizes the safety, including pulmonary safety, of CVT-301 84 mg (nominal respirable levodopa fine-particle dose, 50 mg).

Methods: Patients experiencing motor fluctuations were randomized 2:1 to CVT-301 or an observational cohort (OC) receiving oral standard of care.

A reassessment of risks and benefits of dopamine agonists in Parkinson's disease.

Neurologists have several choices of drugs that have been shown to be effective for the treatment of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Among the first options are the dopamine agonists, which are commonly used both as an early monotherapy and as an adjunct therapy to levodopa. However, before starting any treatment, the overall benefit-to-risk ratio to individual patients must be considered.

Validation of the freezing of gait questionnaire in patients with Parkinson's disease.

To revalidate the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOG-Q), patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were randomly assigned to receive rasagiline (1 mg/day) (n = 150), entacapone (200 mg with each dose of levodopa) (n = 150), or placebo (n = 154). Patients were assessed at baseline and after 10 weeks using the FOG-Q, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). FOG-Q dimensionality, test-retest reliability, and internal reliability were examined.

Efficacy of pramipexole and transdermal rotigotine in advanced Parkinson's disease: a double-blind, double-dummy, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Continuous dopaminergic drug delivery is an unmet medical need in advanced Parkinson's disease. The aim of this trial-Clinical Efficacy of Pramipexole And Transdermal Rotigotine in Advanced PD (CLEOPATRA-PD)-was to assess the efficacy of adjunct treatment with rotigotine in comparison with placebo and with pramipexole in levodopa-treated patients with advanced Parkinson's disease and wearing-off type motor fluctuations.

Methods: In this randomised controlled trial, eligible participants were randomly assigned to receive either rotigotine (up to 16 mg/24 h as a transdermal patch), pramipexole (up to 4.

Slower progression of Parkinson's disease with ropinirole versus levodopa: The REAL-PET study.

Preclinical studies suggest ropinirole (a D2/D3 dopamine agonist) may be neuroprotective in Parkinson's disease (PD), and a pilot clinical study using (18)F-dopa positron emission tomography (PET) suggested a slower loss of striatal dopamine storage with ropinirole compared with levodopa. This prospective, 2-year, randomized, double-blind, multinational study compared the rates of loss of dopamine-terminal function in de novo patients with clinical and (18)F-dopa PET evidence of early PD, randomized 1 to 1 to receive either ropinirole or levodopa. The primary outcome measure was reduction in putamen (18)F-dopa uptake (Ki) between baseline and 2-year PET.