Drug Design, Development and Therapy (Jun 2021)
The Current Evidence for the Use of Safinamide for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
Abstract
Giovanni Abbruzzese,1 Paolo Barone,2 Leonardo Lopiano,3 Fabrizio Stocchi4 1Department of Neuroscience, University of Genova, Genova, Italy; 2School of Medicine, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy; 3Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, Torino, Italy; 4Department of Neurology, University and Institute for Research and Medical Care, San Raffaele Roma, Rome, ItalyCorrespondence: Fabrizio StocchiDepartment of Neurology, University and Institute for Research and Medical Care, San Raffaele Roma, Via della Pisana 235, Rome, 00163, ItalyTel +390653352311Fax +39066789158Email [email protected]: Parkinson’s therapeutic interventions are only symptomatic. An optimal treatment should therefore address the largest number of motor and non-motor symptoms, to manage patients at best. Safinamide is one of the most recent approved drugs for fluctuating patients, in add-on to levodopa, that remains the gold standard treatment. It has a unique mechanism of action, both dopaminergic (as MAO-B inhibitor) and glutamatergic (through Na+ channel blockade). Results from Phase III trials, post-hoc analyses and real-life experiences suggest a beneficial effect on motor (such as tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and gait) and non-motor (pain, mood, sleep) symptoms.Areas Covered: Here, the authors discuss clinical efficacy and safety of safinamide, identifying the patients’ profiles that could benefit most. A search in PubMed was performed in September 2020, with no time limits. Publications’ abstracts were reviewed.Conclusion: Safinamide is peculiar due to its double mechanism of action. Its benefits in improving motor functions and fluctuations, and some non-motor symptoms, could have a valuable impact on patients’ quality of life (QoL), together with its safety profile.Keywords: glutamate, motor fluctuations, Parkinson’s disease, safinamide
