Benefits of COMT inhibitors in levodopa-treated parkinsonian patients: results of clinical trials.

Recent prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have examined the long-term effects of the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inhibitors entacapone and tolcapone as adjuncts to levodopa in PD patients with wearing-off motor fluctuations. These studies demonstrate that both tolcapone and entacapone provide PD patients who suffer motor fluctuations with increased "on" time, decreased "off" time, and improved motor scores in comparison to placebo-treated patients. The improvement was observed rapidly, often being evident within days of initiating the intervention. Benefits persisted throughout the duration of the study. Increased dopaminergic side effects were observed with both drugs, but these were generally readily controlled by a concomitant reduction in levodopa dose. Tolcapone was associated with some instances of explosive diarrhea and liver enzyme elevation so that periodic monitoring of liver function was recommended. These did not occur with entacapone, and monitoring of liver function was not required. This report reviews the results of the multi-center trials of entacapone, and tolcapone.