MULTICENTER, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL OF CABERGOLINE TAKEN ONCE-DAILYIN THE TREATMENT OF PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Cabergoline is a dopaminergic agonist relatively specific for the D-2 receptor and much longer-acting than other dopamine agonists. We condu cted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of cabergoli ne in 188 levodopa/carbidopa-treated patients with suboptimally contro lled Parkinson's disease (PD). The cabergoline patients had significan tly better Activities of Daily Living (p = 0.032) and Motor Examinatio n (p = 0.031) scores at the conclusion of the trial compared with the placebo group. The daily levodopa dose for the cabergoline patients de creased 18% compared with a 3% reduction for the placebo group (p < 0. 001). The amount of time in the ''on'' state increased more in the cab ergoline group (p = 0.022). The side-effect profile was similar to tha t seen with other dopamine agonists, and cabergoline was generally wel l tolerated. We conclude that cabergoline is an effective adjunct to l evodopa for the treatment of PD.