EAN 2026 | COMT inhibitors as an adjunct to manage OFF periods in Parkinson’s disease

Catechol-O-methyltransferase are an important enzyme in body function and typically when we, in case of administration of amino acids like levodopa, they are not that active unless you block the dopa decarboxylase enzyme. But since all formulations we had available have a dopa decarboxylase blocker, the COMT inhibition becomes quite critical for levodopa availability. So in recent years, we have learned that if we could provide this double inhibition, blocking both pathways, dopa decarboxylase and catechol-O-methyltransferase, together, we can maximize levodopa availability. And actually, this is best achieved in people in the early stage of motor complications. So people who are on just three, maximum four doses a day of levodopa, if they use a COMT inhibitor together with a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor, they can stay in that state for a longer time. And this has been shown to be actually more effective than adding additional levodopa doses to the treatment regimen. So COMT inhibition is equally effective to dopa decarboxylase inhibition so both enzymatic pathways are important in levodopa metabolism and if we use them early at the early stage on motor complications or even early patients at the beginning of levodopa intake we can probably improve stability of levodopa plasma levels and make patients experience a better quality of life.

This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.