Levodopa-induced motor problems (response fluctuations and dyskinesia) continue to be a major impediment to efficient Parkinson’s disease therapy (PD). Despite significant advances in identifying the risk factors for their development, current cohorts still revealed a 5-year cumulative incidence of motor fluctuations of 29% to 54% and levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) of 15% to 37%, escalating to 100% and 56% after 10 years. Agents that target the metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 have emerged as an intriguing new class of medications for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). For a study, researchers sought to determine the effectiveness and safety of foliglurax in decreasing off time and dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease patients.

The study included 157 randomly assigned individuals with Parkinson’s disease with motor problems in a 28-day, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of foliglurax 10 and 30 mg as an addition to levodopa.

Although foliglurax therapy resulted in dose-dependent reductions in daily awake off time, the improvement from baseline to day 28 in off-time (primary goal) and dyskinesia (secondary endpoint) did not improve substantially compared to placebo for either foliglurax dose. Folglurax treatment was generally safe, with no important safety signals. The research found no indication that foliglurax improves levodopa-induced motor problems in Parkinson’s disease.

Reference:movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mds.28970

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