title: Sleep attacks in Parkinson's disease induced by Entacapone, a COMT-inhibitor.
abstract: We present a patient who suffered from sleep attacks after starting entacapone in addition to levodopa. Entacapone, a catechol-O-methyl transferase inhibitor, alters the pharmacokinetics of levodopa, leading to increase of levodopa concentration in plasma and brain. This mechanism is suspected to be involved in the pathophysiology of sleep attacks in this case.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. patrick.santens@rug.ac.be
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santens
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D065098:Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; D002396:Catechols / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006970:Disorders of Excessive Somnolence / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009570:Nitriles; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000139:chemically induced*
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D065098:Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; D002396:Catechols; D009570:Nitriles; C071192:entacapone