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Review
. 2017 Oct 30:11:1756285617737728.
doi: 10.1177/1756285617737728. eCollection 2018.

Extended-release oral capsule of carbidopa-levodopa in Parkinson disease

Affiliations
Review

Extended-release oral capsule of carbidopa-levodopa in Parkinson disease

Jason Margolesky et al. Ther Adv Neurol Disord. .

Abstract

Motor fluctuations complicate the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease receiving levodopa. Extended-release carbidopa-levodopa has a pharmacokinetic profile that provides a more continuous levodopa serum concentration. Patients taking this formulation can expect longer duration of action and fewer doses per day, similar clinical improvement when compared to other levodopa formulations, and with a theoretically lower risk of developing motor fluctuations. Several studies, including three randomized control trials provide evidence for the efficacy, safety and tolerability of extended release carbidopa-levodopa in patients with both early and advanced Parkinson's disease are reviewed here. Also provided is guidance for dosing of and conversion to extended release carbidopa-levodopa as well as a discussion of its place in the clinical practice.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; Rytary; extended release carbidopa–levodopa.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The graph depicts the pharmacokinetic profiles of each individual component and of a complete ER CD/LD capsule. CD/LD, carbidopa–levodopa. Reproduced from: Mittur et al.; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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