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Parkinson's DiseasePhase 2NCT00013624

Riluzole to Treat Parkinson's Disease

A Phase 2 study testing IV Levodopa in people with Parkinson's Disease, run by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

This study will evaluate the effects of the drug riluzole on Parkinson's disease symptoms and on dyskinesias (involuntary movements) that develop as a result of long-term treatment with levodopa. Riluzole blocks the action of the chemical messenger glutamate, thought to be involved in producing Parkinson's symptoms. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Any age
Conditions the study is for
Parkinson's Disease
What is being tested?
IV Levodopa
Type of treatment
Injection or infusion
How many people
20 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Mar 2001to Mar 2005
Phase
Phase 2
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages Any age
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Males and females between the ages of 20-80 are eligible for study. Women must be either at least one year post-menopausal, or using an adequate contraceptive method for at least one month prior to and during participation in this study. All will carry the diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease based on the presence of a characteristic clinical history and neurological findings. All will have relatively advanced disease with levodopa-associated motor response complications, including peak-dose dyskinesias and wearing-off fluctuations.

Who cannot join

  • The presence or history of any medical condition that can reasonably be expected to subject the patient to unwarranted risk. Any clinically significant laboratory abnormalities including liver enzyme elevations more than two times the upper limit of normal, or neutropenia (wbc less than 3000).
  • Parkinson's disease patients exhibiting diphasic or end-of dose dyskinesias or disabling dystonia will be excluded. Patients who are unable to be treated with levodopa/carbidopa alone or with a single, relatively short-acting dopamine agonist will also be excluded.
  • Patients with a form of parkinsonism other than idiopathic PD or with a diagnosis of dementia (MMSE less than 24) or major psychiatric disorder (UPDRS [Part I Item 3] greater than or equal to 2).
  • Patients with unacceptable prior/concomitant medications will also be excluded.
  • Since the influence of any investigational compound on the unborn child and reproductive organs is unknown, pregnant women and those not practicing effective means of birth control will be excluded as well.
  • Patients with prior bilateral surgical intervention for the treatment of parkinsonian symptoms, i.e. deep brain stimulation, pallidotomy, fetal tissue transplantation as well as patients must at risk for hypotension, cardiac arrhythmia, and/or myocardial ischemia secondary to intravenous levodopa challenge will be excluded.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

    Bethesda, Maryland, 20892

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Effect of Antiglutamatergic Treatment in Parkinson's Disease

This study will evaluate the effects of the drug riluzole on Parkinson's disease symptoms and on dyskinesias (involuntary movements) that develop as a result of long-term treatment with levodopa. Riluzole blocks the action of the chemical messenger glutamate, thought to be involved in producing Parkinson's symptoms. The drug is currently approved to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, another neurologic condition.

Patients with relatively advanced Parkinson's disease between 20 and 80 years of age may be eligible for this 4-week study. Participants will have a complete medical history and physical examination, and a detailed neurological evaluation. The evaluations will include blood tests and an electrocardiogram, and possibly brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), CT scan, and chest X-ray.

Read more

Participants will, if possible, stop taking all antiparkinsonian medications except levodopa (Sinemet) for one month before the study begins and throughout its duration. For the first 1 to 3 days, patients will be admitted to the NIH Clinical Center to undergo a levodopa "dose-finding" procedure. For this study, patients will stop taking their oral Sinemet and instead will have levodopa infused through a vein for up to 8 hours/day. During the infusions, the levodopa dose will be increased slowly until either 1) parkinsonian symptoms improve, 2) unacceptable side effects occur, or 3) the maximum study dose is reached. Symptoms will be monitored frequently to find two infusion rates: 1) one that is less than what is needed to relieve symptoms (suboptimal rate), and 2) one that relieves symptoms but may produce dyskinesias (optimal rate).

When the dose-finding phase is completed, treatment will begin. Patients will take riluzole or placebo (a look-a-like pill with no active ingredient) twice a day, along with their regular Sinemet, for 3 weeks. (All participants will receive placebo at some time during the study, and some patients will receive only placebo throughout the entire 4 weeks.) At the end of each week, patients will be readmitted to the hospital and receive the previous week's dose of riluzole or placebo in combination with a levodopa infusion at the rate determined in the dose-finding phase of the study. The procedure for the infusion will be the same as that for the dose-finding phase. The dose of riluzole will be increased until the optimum dose has been achieved or until side effects occur (at which time the dose will be lowered or the drug stopped).

Throughout the study, parkinsonian symptoms and dyskinesias will be evaluated using standardized rating scales and blood samples will be drawn periodically to measure drug levels.

Read the detailed description

The objective of this study is to evaluate the acute effects of a nonselective inhibitor of glutamate mediated synaptic transmission on the severity of parkinsonian signs and levodopa-associated motor response complications in patients with moderately advanced Parkinson's disease. In a controlled proof-of-principle clinical trial, the efficacy of the glutamate release inhibitor riluzole will be assessed through the use of validated motor function scales. Safety will be monitored by means of frequent clinical evaluations and laboratory tests.

Being tested
IV Levodopa
Keywords
Riluzole, Dyskinesias, L-Dopa Infusion, Parkinson's Disease
Medical subject headings
Parkinson Disease, Dyskinesias

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • IV LevodopaDrug

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted26 Mar 2001 (estimated)
  2. Study startMar 2001
  3. Study completionMar 2005

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Enrolment
20 participants
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00013624
Sponsor's protocol ID
010118
Other IDs
01-N-0118
Status last verified
Mar 2005
First submitted
24 Mar 2001
Last updated
4 Mar 2008
Results posted
No

Publications

  • Mizuno Y, Mori H, Kondo T. Parkinson's disease: from etiology to treatment. Intern Med. 1995 Nov;34(11):1045-54. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.34.1045.

    PubMed 8774962
  • Chase TN, Oh JD, Blanchet PJ. Neostriatal mechanisms in Parkinson's disease. Neurology. 1998 Aug;51(2 Suppl 2):S30-5. doi: 10.1212/wnl.51.2_suppl_2.s30.

    PubMed 9711978
  • Bernheimer H, Birkmayer W, Hornykiewicz O, Jellinger K, Seitelberger F. Brain dopamine and the syndromes of Parkinson and Huntington. Clinical, morphological and neurochemical correlations. J Neurol Sci. 1973 Dec;20(4):415-55. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(73)90175-5. No abstract available.

    PubMed 4272516

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 2 study testing IV Levodopa in people with Parkinson's Disease, run by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Mar 2008. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00013624, which also lists 3 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Mar 2008.

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