Table 3.
Clinical trials of drug treatments for freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease
| Study reference | Participants | Study design | Treatment | Main findings | FOG subtype |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levodopa | |||||
| [3] | 19 PD with FOG | Prospective, open-label, uncontrolled | Patients were examined during “Off” and “On” states that approximately 1 h after they took their regular morning dose of levodopa. | Levodopa significantly decreased frequency and the number of FOG episodes (Video recorded). | Unknown, but levodopa induced FOG was excluded |
| [59] | 20 PD with FOG | Prospective, open-label, uncontrolled | Similar with the above study but took 1.5 times the usual levodopa dose | FOG improved (customized FOG score and FOGQ). | Unknown |
| Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) | |||||
| [60] | 65 advanced PD | Observational, retrospective, a review of medical records | Mean duration of LCIG therapy was 3.7 years | FOG improved (FOG present only in 22% of patients at 1 year follow-up compared to 46% at baseline). | Unknown |
| [61] | 91 advanced PD | Observational, retrospective, a review of medical records | Mean time of follow up of 18 ± 8.4 months | Gait disorders (freezing, festination, postural instability) improved in 61.4% of patients (three point scale). | Unknown |
| [62] | 32 advanced PD with FOG | Observational, retrospective, a review of medical records | Mean duration of LCIG therapy was 2.59 ± 1.12 years | FOG that present in OFF condition and improved but did not disappear completely in ON condition can be further improved by LCIG (UPDRS freezing score). | 31 patients with responsive FOG and one with resistant-FOG |
| [63] | 177 advanced PD, in which 122 patients with FOG | Observational, retrospective, multi-center, cross-sectional, uncontrolled | Mean duration of LCIG therapy was 34.7 months, 80.8% of patients ≥12 months | FOG improved in 76.2% of patients (subjective assessment by clinicians). | Unknown |
| [64] | 28 PD | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | 17/28 patients reached the 24-month follow-up | FOG improved (FOGQ) | Unknown |
| [65] | 25 PD | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | 20 patients continued on treatment to 6 months. | FOG improved (FOGQ) | Unknown |
| [66] | 5 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | 24 h LCIG therapy, 6 months | 360° turn time reduced, FOG improved (FOGQ) and fall frequency reduced | Resistant |
| [56] | 7 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label controlled, unrandomized | Evaluations were performed in “On” state (60–90 min after taking the morning oral levodopa or LCIG). | FOG improved on LCIG (FOGQ and UPDRS freezing score) | Resistant |
| Dopamine agonist | |||||
| [67] | 36 PD | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | Pramipexole treatment for 3 months (started at 0.125 mg/day and increased to 1.5 mg/day) . | FOG improvement (FOGQ) | Unknown |
| [68] | 111 PD, in which 54 patients with FOG | Prospective, open label controlled, unrandomized | Rotigotine transdermal patch (9-27 mg/day), pramipexole LA (1.5-4.5 mg/day), ropinirole CR (8-16 mg/day) for at least 6 months | FOG improvement in Rotigotine group (FOGQ) | 48 patients with “Off” FOG and 6 with “Off and On” FOG |
| [69] | 10 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | Acute test of subcutaneous apomorphine bolus in the morning at “off” state, without other medication | No improvement (subjective assessment) | FOG occur in both “Off” and “On” state |
| Monoamine oxidase B inhibitors | |||||
| Selegiline | |||||
| [70] | 14 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | Addition or increase in dose of selegiline, average dose: 4.0 mg/day for 3 months | FOG improved in 7/14 patients (FOGQ) | Unknown |
| Rasagiline | |||||
| [71] | 687 PD in which 278 patients with FOG | Prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled | Oral rasagiline (1 mg once daily), entacapone (200 mg with every levodopa dose), or placebo for 18 weeks |
FOG improved by Rasagiline (UPDRS-PIGD, UPDRS-freezing score) |
Unknown |
| [72] | 42 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled, multicenter | 1 mg rasagiline daily as an add-on therapy for 3 months | FOG improved after 1, 2 and 3 months of therapy (FOGQ) | Unknown |
| [73] | 18 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled, | 1 mg rasagiline daily as an add-on therapy for 90 days | No overall improvement (Objective FOG counts and duration) | Resistant |
| Methylphenidate (MPH) | |||||
| [74] | 69 advanced PD with FOG who had received STN- stimulation | Double-blind, randomized, Placebo-controlled | MPH (1 mg/kg per day) or placebo capsules for 90 days | MPH reduces FOG in both “off” and “on” levodopa conditions (FOGQ and the number of freezing episodes while taking walking trajectory) | Resistant |
| [75] | 17 STN-stimulated patients with advanced PD and gait disorders | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | A daily dose of 1 mg/kg of MPH three times daily) for 3 months, including a 1-month titration phase | 3 months MPH improved FOG (number of FOG during Stand-Walk-Sit test) | Resistant |
| [76] | 5 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | A single oral administration of 10 mg MPH. Reassessment 2 h later. | FOG improved (total walking time, total freezing time, number of freezing episodes and the non-freezing walking time during an “8” trajectory). | Responsive |
| [77] | 17 PD with moderate gait impairment | Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled | MPH (maximum, up to 80 mg/day) or placebo for 12 weeks and crossed over after a 3-week washout. | No improvement (FOGQ) | Unknown |
| Istradefylline | |||||
| [78] | 14 PD patients with FOGQ 12.14 ± 5.82 | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | 20 mg Istradefylline daily for 1 month | FOG improved (FOGQ) | Unknown |
| [79] | 31 PD patients with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled, multicenter |
20 mg Istradefylline daily for 4 weeks, followed by 20 mg/day or an 40 mg/day for 8 weeks |
FOG improved (FOGQ, NFOGQ, and MDS-UPDRS Part III (ON-state) gait-related items total score) | Unknown |
| Antidepressants | |||||
| [80] | 52 PD with mild to severe depressive | Prospective, open label, randomized, controlled, multicenter |
Paroxetine 20 mg/day or 25 mg/day; escitalopram 10 mg/day; duloxetine 40 mg/day; 8 weeks’ maintenance period and 2 weeks’ incremental period |
FOG (FOGQ) and depression improved | Unknown |
| L-DOPS, droxidopa | |||||
| [81] | 16 PD with FOG | Randomized, open label, controlled | L-DOPS and entacapone initially 100 mg per day, increase by 100 mg increments every 2 days up to 100 mg per each levodopa administration for 4 weeks | Co-administration of L-DOPS and entacapone improved FOG, yet entacapone or L-DOPS alone didn’t, and the improvement was found only in levodopa-resistant FOG (visual analogue scale, VAS) | 14 patients with “On and Off FOG”; 2 patients with “Off” FOG |
| [82] | 13 advanced PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | L-DOPS initially 100 mg/day with a weekly increase of 100 mg up to 600-900 mg/day maintenance | FOG improved in more than half of patients (walk 10 m and return, subjective assessment) | Unknown |
| Amantadine | |||||
| [83] | 11 PD with FOG | A retrospective chart review | Median 100 mg twice daily, and treatment duration was 20 months (range, 6-66 months). | Subjective self-reported improvement on FOG | Unknown |
| [84] | 42 PD with FOG | Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled | 200 mg/500 mL normal saline twice a day for 5 days. | No improvement (FOGQ) | 50% patients with FOG at “On” state |
| [85] | 15 patients with FOG including 6 PD | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | 200 mg in 500 cm3 of saline solution given over a 3-h period, twice a day for 2 days | Improvement in PD patients (FOGQ) | Resistant |
| [86] | 10 PD with FOG | Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled, crossover | Placebo (normal saline) or amantadine (400 mg/day) were injected four times for 2 days, 52-h washout, then switched. | No improvement (FOGQ, UPDRS, 4 × 10 m walking test) | Resistant |
| Atomoxetine | |||||
| [87] | 5 PD with FOG | Prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled | 10 mg daily and 10 mg increments up to 40 mg per day over 3 weeks. | No improvement (7 M Step test, FOGQ, Clinician’s Global Index of Change (CGIC), Gait and Balance Scale) | Resistant |
| [88] | 10 PD with FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | 40 mg daily for 2 weeks then increased to 40 mg twice daily for 4-week then reduced to 40 mg daily for 1 week | No improvement (FOGQ) | Resistant |
| Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor | |||||
| [89] | 41 PD with dementia | Open label, randomized, controlled | Galantamine 4 mg twice daily for the first 4 weeks, and then 8 mg twice daily to the end of the 24 week trial period. | FOG improved (UPDRS freezing subitem) | Unknown |
| [90] | 130 PD | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | Rivastigmine was uptitrated from 3 mg per day to the target dose of 12 mg per day over 12 weeks | FOG did not improve (episodes of FOG in the past month; NFOGQ) | Unknown |
| Botulinum toxin | |||||
| [91] | 11 advanced PD with FOG | Randomized double blind placebo-controlled | BTX-A injection into each leg’s calf muscles, 150 IU per leg | No improvement (FOGQ, CGIC, UPDRS) | Off FOG |
| [92] | 12 PD with FOG | Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled, crossover | BTX-A injection into calf muscles, 16.25 to 25 U /site, six injection sites per leg, 12-week washout, then switched | No improvement (FOGQ, diaries, TUG and “2-min walk test”) | Unknown |
| [93] | 10 patients with FOG including 7 PD | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | BTX-A injection into calf muscles, 3–6 sites per leg, 100-300 IU per session | FOG improved (CGIC) | 3 patients with “Off” FOG; 2 with “On” FOG; 2 with “On and Off” FOG |
| [94] | 20 PD, 10 PD with FOG and 10 PD without FOG | Prospective, open label, uncontrolled | BTX-A injection into tensor fasciae latae muscle, 50 U per leg | FOG improved (FOGQ) | Resistant |
| [95] | 14 PD with FOG | Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized | BTX-B injection into calf muscles of the predominantly affected leg in freezing, 5000 U | No improvement (UPDRS, VAS, and Modified Webster Step-Seconds test) | Resistant |
A total of 39 clinical trials were summarized. The number of participants and their FOG subtype, the type of study design, drug treatments strategies, assessment methods for FOG and main findings were provided in this table
FOG Freezing of gait, PD Parkinson’s disease, LCIG Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel, FOGQ Freezing of Gait-Questionnaire, NFOGQ New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire, UPDRS Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, PIGD Postural instability/gait difficulty, MPH Methylphenidate, L-DOPS L-threo-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylserine, VAS Visual Analog Scale, CGIC Clinician’s Global Index of Change