Original article Chronopharmacology of nebicapone, a new catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor

Objective: To investigate the chronopharmacology of nebicapone, a new catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor currently being developed for use as an adjunct to levodopa/carbidopa or levodopa/benserazide in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Methods: This was a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Eighteen Caucasian subjects were randomly assigned to treatment with either nebicapone 100 mg (n ¼ 6), nebicapone 200 mg (n ¼ 6) or placebo (n ¼ 6) at 4-h intervals for 7 days. First dose occurred at 8:00 AM on day 1 and last dose at 8:00 AM on day 8. Blood samples for the determination of plasma drug concentrations of nebicapone and its glucuronidated and methylated metabolites and for the assay of erythrocyte soluble COMT (S-COMT) activity were taken at frequent times following the first and last doses, and before the 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM doses on days 2–7. Results: