Active clinical trials for "Parkinson Disease"

This study will compare the brain uptake of 18F- DTBZ in 20 patients with PD, 20 patients with MSA, 20 patients with PSP, 20 patients with CBS, and 20 patients with VaP, 20 patients with ET, and 10 patients with DT.

The primary objective of the study is to assess the efficacy, carbidopa dose response and safety of ODM-101, a new combination of levodopa, carbidopa and entacapone in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with end-of-dose motor fluctuations.

The primary objective of this protocol is to access the utility of 18F-DTBZ PET imaging as an in vivo biomarker to monitor neurodegeneration of both PD mouse models and PD patients. Secondary, the investigators will analyze progression rate of genetic-proving PARK8 and PARK6 patients who have homogeneous phenotype and genotype by 18F-DTBZ PET imaging.

The current study is designed to test the hypothesis that targeted electrical stimulation will result in upper limb tremor reduction in ET and PD patients.

The PET tracer Fluoro-ethyl-methyl-amino-naphthyl-ethylidene-malononitrile ([F18]-FDDNP) has a specific affinity for lesions containing tau protein and beta-amyloid The study consists of two phases In a first transversal phase, 8 neurologically unimpaired controls, 15 patients with PD and no dementia (PDND) and 8 with PD and dementia (PDD) will undergo lumbar puncture for study of tau, phospho-tau and beta-amyloid levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), as well as positron emission tomography (PET) with ([F18]-FDDNP. Concentration of CSF markers and both the degree and topography of FDDNP-PET uptake will be compared among groups, along with correlation analysis between CSF and PET findings. During the second phase (18 months follow-up), the PDND patients will undergo the same procedures, and cognitive changes including incident dementia will be assessed. The correlation between cognitive impairment and neurochemical and neuroimaging changes will be established to determine the predictive value of these markers. Since the pathological lesions observed in Alzheimer disease (AD) are common in the PD and the concentrations of tau and beta-amyloid are altered in AD and PET with [F18]-FDDNP is able to separate patients with AD and cognitive impairment from controls, we hypothesized that: - Patients with PD will show a biomarkers profile similar to the AD (decreased levels of beta-amyloid and increased phospho-tau and tau) in CSF, and an abnormal uptake of [F18]-FDDNP PET compared to PDND patients and controls. -The distribution of cortical [F18]-FDDNP in the PD will be different from the AD and similar to dementia with Lewy bodies, predominantly in posterior cortical areas. PDND patients will show a [F18]-FDDNP PET uptake and levels of protein markers in CSF intermediate between controls and patients with PD. -In the subsequent follow-up, PDND patients will show cognitive impairment correlate to changes in the levels of protein markers in CSF and uptake of PET with [F18]-FDDNP - The predictive value for the development of dementia in PD of specific patterns of PET uptake and CSF proteins profile will be established.

The primary objective of this protocol is to analyze the sensitivity and specificity of 18F-DTBZ PET to the differential diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease (PD) and normality. Secondary, the investigators will analyze the correlation between the 18F-DTBZ binding and the severity of disease of PD and the role of 18F-DTBZ PET in the monitoring disease severity.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if a drug commonly used to treat excessive day-time sleepiness, called armodafinil (Nuvigil), is also effective in improving the impairment in the attention commonly reported by patients with more advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body disease (LBD).

Freezing of Gait (FoG) is a class of symptoms that occur in Parkinson's patients. Also called motor blocks, FoG is characterized by a sudden inability to move the lower extremities which usually lasts less than 10 seconds. The exact pathophysiology of FoG is poorly understood, but treatment with levodopa appears to improve FoG observed in the off-state. As Parkinson's patients progress in severity, FoG in the on-state can increase in frequency and appears to be resistant to dopaminergic therapies. There is additional evidence that norepinephrine as well as dopaminergic systems may be involved in FoG. Droxidopa has has been approved for use in Japan since 1989 for treatment of frozen gait or dizziness associated with Parkinson's Disease. This study is to further explore the safety and efficacy of droxidopa in this indication.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive imaging technique assessing neuronal activations during motor or cognitive tasks. The MRI sequences used are currently optimized for the study of cortex activations, particularly concerning the echo time (TE).Very few studies are interested in optimizing the fMRI for the study of the basal ganglia, structure implicated in many neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease. The T2 * is a tissue parameter dependent of iron content, which differs with brain structures and probably also with age and in case of neurodegenerative disease. Optimal TE s should correspond to the T2 * of studied brain structure The primary purpose is to optimize the fMRI by a quantitative measurement of the T2* in the cortex and the basal ganglia using MRI. The secondary purpose is to study the effect of age and Parkinson's disease on T2*.

The underlying goal of this study is to assess [123I]MNI-420 SPECT imaging as a tool to detect A2aR density in the brain of PD and HD research participants to be compared with similarly aged healthy subjects.