Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18728816›Full record

ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2008

Optimizing levodopa therapy for Parkinson's disease with levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone: implications from a clinical and patient perspective.

David J Brooks

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
48citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

48 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 108 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone for the treatment of early Parkinson's disease: a meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2020
    Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Effect of Opicapone on Levodopa Pharmacokinetics in Patients with Fluctuating Parkinson's Disease.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2022
    Trial
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  7. Supporting Medication Adherence in Parkinson's Through Education: A Scoping Review of Interventions.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
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  14. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 2 countries.

David J BrooksDivision of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital London, UK. david.brooks@csc.mrc.ac.uk
Hammersmith Hospital · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

After 40 years of clinical experience, levodopa remains the gold standard treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) despite the recent emergence of a host of new therapies. Some physicians are cautious when prescribing levodopa because of its association with motor complications. Evidence now suggests that levodopa-associated complications are a result of deep troughs in delivery of levodopa to the brain caused by the short plasma half-life of conventional levodopa formulations (levodopa and a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor [DDCI]). Dosing strategies, such as dose increases and dose fractionation, may be effective in the short term. For the longer-term, levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone provides pharmacokinetically optimized levodopa therapy that significantly increases the plasma half-life and bioavailability of levodopa, providing more consistent plasma levodopa levels without deep troughs. Evidence from clinical trials in PD patients experiencing re-emergence of symptoms due to wearing-off has consistently shown that levodopa/DDCI and entacapone significantly increases ON-time and affords greater functionality, as measured by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) with conventional levodopa. These trials have also shown that levodopa/DDCI and entacapone is generally well tolerated, with notable adverse events including worsening dyskinesia, nausea and diarrhea. Patients experiencing re-emergence of symptoms due to wearing-off may benefit from optimized levodopa therapy with levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone.

Indexed as

dyskinesiaentacaponelevodopaStalevowearing-off

Identifiers

PMID18728816
PMCPMC2515910
OpenAlexW2156991891

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.