title: Rasagiline, Parkinson neuroprotection, and delayed-start trials: still no satisfaction?
abstract: Rasagiline has been studied as a Parkinson disease (PD) neuroprotective agent in 2 major clinical trials, utilizing the delayed-start design in an attempt to separate symptomatic drug benefits from a disease-modifying effect. The ostensibly positive outcomes of these studies, however, are obscured by potential confounding factors that seem intrinsic to this trial design, including 1) very small changes in clinical outcome measures that could easily be overshadowed by other influences; 2) probable incomplete blinding to study end; 3) subjective components of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scoring system; and 4) practice influences from repeated scoring. Interpretation of the recent Attenuation of Disease Progression with Azilect Given Once-daily (ADAGIO) trials is especially problematic given 1) divergent results with the 2 symptomatically beneficial doses and 2) variability in UPDRS scores with active rasagiline, which was twice the magnitude of the major finding of the study. These studies further illustrate the difficulty in documenting a disease-modifying effect when considering a PD drug with symptomatic benefit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. eahlskog@mayo.edu
authors.forename: J Eric
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ahlskog
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Uitti
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015588:Observer Variation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018579:Patient Selection; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007189:Indans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C031967:rasagiline