Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.


Home > Neurology > EAN 2019 > Parkinson's Disease and other Movement Disorders > No disease-modifying effect of levodopa/carbidopa in Parkinson’s

No disease-modifying effect of levodopa/carbidopa in Parkinson’s

Conference
EAN 2019
    Determining disease-modifying qualities of levodopa could result in a rationale for initiating treatment earlier in the course of PD. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, delayed-start trial, treatment with levodopa/carbidopa had no disease-modifying effect over the course of 80 weeks in patients with early PD [1,2]. In patients without overt disability in daily activities, early start with levodopa improved disease-related quality of life.

    These were the results of a Dutch multicentre study designed to see if levodopa/carbidopa can slow disease progression in the early phase of the disease. A total of 445 patients with early PD were randomised to levodopa/carbidopa 100/25 mg three times a day for 80 weeks (early-start group), or placebo for 40 weeks followed by levodopa/carbidopa for 40 weeks (delayed-start group). The primary outcome was the mean change in the total score on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) at week 80. This change was −1.0 and −2.0 points in the early- and delayed-start group, respectively (P=0.44). This non-significant difference led the authors to conclude that levodopa has no disease-modifying effect, either beneficial or detrimental. In the early-start group, the disease-related quality of life (PDQ-39) score showed a clinically relevant improvement in the first 40 weeks. There was no significant difference in rates of dyskinesia and levodopa-related fluctuations in motor response.

    Whether higher doses of the drug, longer periods of administration, or initiation of the drug at later stages of the disease could alter the disease course, warrants evaluation in future trials, the authors said.


      1. De Bie R, et al. EAN 2019, O3224.
      2. Verschuur CVM, et al. N Engl J Med. 2019;380(4):315-24.

     



    Posted on