Skip to main content

All Access Subscription

Get unlimited access to our full publication and article library.

Get Access Now

Interested in Group Sales? Learn more

Rasagiline and Parkinson's disease

Rasagiline and Parkinson's disease

Does rasagiline slow the progression of Parkinson's disease? A recent study suggests lower doses of the drug may be beneficial. In this multinational study, 1176 subjects with untreated Parkinson's disease were randomized to rasagiline 1 mg or 2 mg per day for 72 weeks or placebo for 36 weeks followed by rasagiline for 36 weeks. Disease progression was rated on a standard rating scale. Patients who were started at baseline on rasagiline 1 mg met all endpoints in the primary analysis: a slower rate of worsening between weeks 12 and 36 (P = 0.01), less worsening of the score between baseline and week 72 (P = 0.02), and non-inferiority between weeks 48 and 72 (P ≤ 0.001). Interestingly, all 3 endpoints were not met with the higher dose of 2 mg per day. The authors conclude that early treatment with rasagiline at a dose of 1 mg per day provided a possible disease-modifying effect, but suggested the results must be interpreted with caution (N Engl J Med 2009;361:1268-1278). Although the findings of this paper are somewhat confusing, it offers some hope since there is currently no effective therapy to slow or stop disease progression in Parkinson's disease.