Homotaurine in Parkinson's disease.

Abstract

Homotaurine is a natural compound of red algae, which has been demonstrated to have a neuroprotective effect and has been evaluated as a possible therapeutic agent for Alzheimer's disease. This was a single blind, randomized, controlled study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of homotaurine in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cognitive impairment. Patients were evaluated at baseline and 6 months later. Assessments included, the evaluation of: motor and non-motor conditions and complications (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, UPDRS); disability and quality of life; depression; excessive daytime sleepiness and fatigue. An extensive neuropsychological tests battery was administered evaluating specific cognitive domains: memory, phonemic verbal fluency, executive functions and selective visual attention. After baseline testing, patients were allocated to one of the two groups: (A) treatment group: patients treated with homotaurine 100 mg; (B) control group: patients not treated with homotaurine. Forty-seven patients were evaluated at baseline, 24 (51 %) completed the study (PD-homotaurine: n = 11; 44 % and PD-controls: n = 13; 59 %); discontinuation rate was similar across subjects (p = 1.0). Intention to treat analyses to evaluate homotaurine safety showed mild side effects (gastrointestinal upsetting) in 3 patients. Per protocol analyses of homotaurine efficacy showed no difference between groups. Within group analyses showed that PD-homotaurine patients had better score at UPDRS-I at the end of the study compared to baseline (p = 0.017) and at Epworth Sleepiness Scale (p = 0.01). No other differences were found. No significant difference arose for the PD-ctrl group. Homotaurine is a safe drug. Our data suggest a beneficial effect of homotaurine on excessive sleepiness. Future studies are encouraged to confirm this promising role of homotaurine in promoting the sleep/awake cycle in patients with PD.

• Authors: Lucia Ricciardi, Francesca De Nigris, Alessandro Specchia, Alfonso Fasano
• Journal: Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (Neurol Sci) Vol. 36 Issue 9 Pg. 1581-7 (Sep 2015) ISSN: 1590-3478 [Electronic] Italy
• PMID: 25894843 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Antiparkinson Agents
• Taurine
• tramiprosate

Topics

• Aged
• Antiparkinson Agents (adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Cognition Disorders (drug therapy, etiology, physiopathology)
• Disorders of Excessive Somnolence (drug therapy, etiology, physiopathology)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Parkinson Disease (complications, drug therapy, physiopathology, psychology)
• Patient Dropouts
• Severity of Illness Index
• Single-Blind Method
• Taurine (adverse effects, analogs & derivatives, therapeutic use)
• Treatment Outcome