Tolcapone: COMT inhibition for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

The articles in this supplement are based in part on the findings from a Special Session held during the 4th International Congress on Movement Disorders, which took place in Vienna, Austria from June 16-21, 1996. This special symposium, COMT Inhibition with Tolcapone in the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease , was chaired by Professor Werner Poewe, Universitatsklinic fur Neurologie, Innsbruck, Austria, and Christopher G. Goetz, MD, Professor of Neurological Sciences, Associate Chairperson, Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University/Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. Several other articles in this supplement are original works that will provide the reader with knowledge about the pharmacokinetics and use of tolcapone in fluctuating and nonfluctuating Parkinson's patients. Indeed, this supplement is a compilation of much of the pivotal clinical data on tolcapone. A new class of drugs, catechol O -methyltrasferase (COMT) inhibitors, has shown promise for treating PD in Phase III clinical studies. In patients receiving levodopa, most (about 70%) of the orally administered levodopa is metabolized rapidly by peripheral dopa decarboxylase to dopamine, which is further metabolized by intracellular monoamine …