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. 2024 Sep 3;14(9):939.
doi: 10.3390/jpm14090939.

Addressing the Ethnicity Gap in Catechol O-Methyl Transferase Inhibitor Trials in Parkinson's Disease: A Review of Available Global Data

Karolina Poplawska-Domaszewicz  1   2 , Naomi Limbachiya  2   3 , Mubasher Qamar  2   3 , Lucia Batzu  2   3 , Shelley Jones  3 , Anna Sauerbier  2   4 , Silvia Rota  2   3 , Yue Hui Lau  5 , K Ray Chaudhuri  2   3
Affiliations

Addressing the Ethnicity Gap in Catechol O-Methyl Transferase Inhibitor Trials in Parkinson's Disease: A Review of Available Global Data

Karolina Poplawska-Domaszewicz et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors (COMT-Is) have significantly improved the quality of life and symptom management for those at advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Given that PD is one of the fastest-growing neurodegenerative diseases worldwide, there is a need to establish a clear framework for the systematic distribution of COMT-Is, considering inter-individual and intra-individual variations in patient response. One major barrier to this is the underrepresentation of ethnic minority participants in clinical trials investigating COMT-Is. To investigate this, we performed a narrative review. We searched PubMed for clinical trials investigating COMT-Is in patients with PD and examined the ethnic diversity of cohorts. A total of 63 articles were identified, with 34 trials found to match our inclusion criteria. Among the 34 trials meeting our inclusion criteria, only 8 reported participants' ethnic backgrounds. Our findings reveal a consistent underrepresentation of ethnic minority groups in trials investigating COMT-Is in PD cohorts-a trend that reflects broader concerns across clinical research. In this review, we explore potential reasons for the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in clinical trials and propose strategies to address this issue.

Keywords: COMT; Parkinson’s disease; diversity; pharmacogenetics; polymorphism.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A summary and schematic representation of the various roles of Catechol O-Methyl Transferase and its functional consequences in Parkinson’s disease.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Narrative review article selection procedure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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