Parkinson’s disease
Eltoprazine could tackle dyskinesia side effect in Parkinson’s disease, study suggests
Source: Shutterstock.com
Levodopa (l-dopa, pictured) can induce dyskinesias in patients with Parkinson’s disease
In patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), levodopa (l-dopa) treatment can induce dyskinesias. Building on promising work in animal models, researchers have evaluated the use of eltoprazine, a selective partial agonist at the 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors, for its ability to counteract this distressing side effect.
In a Phase I/IIa study published in Brain (online, 10 February 2015)[1], 22 PD patients were randomised to receive a single oral dose of eltoprazine or placebo. Following levodopa challenge, eltoprazine 5mg and 7.5mg caused a significant reduction in l-dopa-induced dyskinesias, without altering normal motor responses to therapy. The most frequent adverse effects were nausea and dizziness.
“If our initial findings can be confirmed, this type of therapeutic principle can be of immense clinical benefit to a particularly vulnerable patient group,” says lead author Per Svenningsson.
Citation: The Pharmaceutical Journal DOI: 10.1211/PJ.2015.20067885
Have your say
For commenting, please login or register as a user and agree to our Community Guidelines. You will be re-directed back to this page where you will have the ability to comment.