title: The impact of rotigotine on cardiovascular autonomic function in early Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Dysautonomia can occur in early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) influencing tolerance to dopaminergic therapies. Rotigotine, a non-ergot dopamine agonist, has recently been developed as an effective alternative antiparkinsonian drug, but its influence on the autonomic nervous system was not investigated. Twenty subjects out of 34 consecutive de novo PD patients were submitted to full assessment of cardiovascular autonomic function before and after reaching a stable rotigotine regimen [6 mg/24 h (n = 3) or 8 mg/24 h (n = 17)]. Patients reached significant clinical improvement (-27% on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III) and did not show significant differences in cardiovascular tests compared to baseline data. However, an unexpected trend towards increasing systolic blood pressure after head-up tilt test was detected. Our study demonstrates that rotigotine does not influence cardiovascular autonomic responses in early de novo PD patients. Consequently, it may represent a well-tolerated and efficacious therapeutic option in newly diagnosed PD subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rocchi
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pierantozzi
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pisani
authors.forename: Girolama Alessandra
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Marfia
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Giorgio
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stanzione
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bernardi
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stefani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012119:Respiration / Q000187:drug effects; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013764:Tetrahydronaphthalenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013876:Thiophenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014636:Valsalva Maneuver / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D013764:Tetrahydronaphthalenes; D013876:Thiophenes; C047508:rotigotine