Light Therapy in Parkinson's Disease

Light Therapy in Parkinson's Disease : Effect on Motor Symptoms, Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Mood

Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder of the dopaminergic system, combines motor symptoms but also non-motor, such as depression, sleep disorders and circadian rhythms and impaired cognitive functions. Difficulties in balancing the dopaminergic treatment of these patients emphasizes the need to find effective adjuvant therapies. Light therapy (LT) represents one such innovative therapeutic approach. Although light has an obvious to visual pathways within the brain, today it is known to additionally exert non-visual effects throughout the body. Recently our team has shown that non-visual, non-circadian light plays a major role in the regulation of sleep, as well as cognitive brain function in general. The retina, the primary conduit for the transmission of light information is weakened or thinned in Parkinson's patients. The dopamine system is known to enhance the processing of light information and intraocular injection of L-dopa in animal models of Parkinson's disease, can reverse associated motor symptoms. This allows for the possibility that LT would strengthen the dopaminergic tone in the central nervous system. However, to this date its effectiveness for alleviating Parkinson's symptoms has only been suggested by two studies, both poorly controlled. Thus, through the convergence of basic and clinical data, a study examining the effect of LT directly in people Parkinson's disease symptoms, whilst controlling for the effects on sleep, circadian system, mood, and cognitive functioning, is of extreme importance. With this information our hope is to determine if these polymorphisms allow for a predictive model of response to LT treatment.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Parkinson's Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: active light therapy : Light therapy: DayVia lamp 10000 lux; Device: Placebo light therapy

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 44
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Strasbourg, France, 67000
    • University Hospital, Strasbourg, france

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 45 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Idiopathic Parkison's Disease, low or moderately severe
• Hoehn&Yahr <4
• 4 to < 15 years of evolution·
• Between 45-75 years old
• Absence of dementia : MMSE > 23·
• No severe depression
• Stable medication levels during the 5 weeks before inclusion

Exclusion Criteria:

• Secondary or severe Parkinson's disease
• Ocular pathologies (i.e. retinopathy)
• Photosensitive medication
• Antidepressant treatment·
• Major depression syndrome
• MMSE < 23
• Circadian rhythm problems
• Sleep apnea syndrome
• Manifested or acute psychiatric comorbidities
• Pregnant women

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Active light therapy (10,000 lux); Light therapy: DayVia lamp 10000 lux	Device: active light therapy : Light therapy: DayVia lamp 10000 lux; 4 weeks of active light therapy with DayVia lamp 10000 lux
Placebo Comparator: Placebo light therapy (70 lux); Placebo light therapy	Device: Placebo light therapy; 4 weeks with Placebo light therapy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Global score :Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) I II III	5 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Strasbourg, France
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Patrice BOURGIN, MD, University Hospital, Strasbourg, france

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 10, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 24, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 25, 2014
• First Posted (Estimated): February 26, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 14, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 10, 2023
• Last Verified: August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Parkinsonian Disorders; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Movement Disorders; Synucleinopathies; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Parkinson Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: 5063

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO