New drug safe for Parkinson's, but not effective by itself
NEW YORK, Apr 24, 2000 (Reuters Health) - Remacemide, a new type of
drug for treating Parkinson's disease, has few side effects, but it does
not
improve the symptoms of the disease when used by itself, according to
preliminary findings.
However, researchers in the Parkinson Study Group are hopeful that the
drug might be effective when combined with levodopa, the drug most
commonly used for Parkinson's.
"If ongoing studies confirm that remacemide used in conjunction with
(levodopa) improves patients' symptoms, it may be the first of a new
class
of Parkinson's therapies," said Dr. Steven Schwid, a member of the study
group from the University of Rochester, New York, in a news release.
Remacemide interferes with the function of brain receptors for the
chemical glutamate, whose overactivity may be responsible for some of
the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the authors explain.
Remacemide was tested in 200 patients with Parkinson's that did not yet
require treatment with levodopa. The purpose of the study, the
investigators note, was to identify doses of remacemide that could be
tolerated by patients and to obtain preliminary information about its
effectiveness.
Patients were able to tolerate up to 600 milligrams of remacemide daily,
though this dose was more readily tolerated when divided into four
150-milligram doses than when given in two 300-milligram doses. Patients
taking a ("dummy") placebo were more likely to take all their tablets
than
were patients taking either 300 milligrams or 600 milligrams of
remacemide daily.
The most common side effects associated with remacemide treatment
were dizziness, nausea and vomiting, the team reports. Remacemide
patients also experienced more sleepiness and insomnia than placebo
patients did. None of the patients had any serious side effects from any
treatment.
Remacemide made no difference in Parkinson's symptoms as measured
by standard rating scales, by the patients' comments or by the
physicians'
assessments, the researchers note in the April issue of Neurology.
"It is possible that higher dosages or longer treatment periods could
produce more benefit," the authors suggest.
Results of studies in animals suggest that remacemide might prove
effective
against Parkinson's disease when combined with levodopa, Schwid and
colleagues report, and that remacemide might offer some protection to
the
degeneration seen with Parkinson's and other brain disorders.
If the drug turns out to have these "neuroprotective qualities," it
could "be
an even more significant advance in the treatment of Parkinson's
disease,"
Schwid said.
"Based on its favorable safety profile and several animal studies,
further
studies of remacemide are warranted as symptomatic therapy in
levodopa-treated patients and as a neuroprotective agent," Parkinson
Study Group concludes.
SOURCE: Neurology 2000;54:1583-1588.
Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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