Introduction
ICDs, hypersexuality, behavioural disorders, PD, Parkinson’s disease, binge eating, compulsive shopping
DYSFUNCTION, DISORDERS
Impulse control disorders (ICDs) are behavioural disorders frequently encountered in Parkinson’s disease (PD) treated by dopamine replacement therapies (DRT). The main ICDs are pathological gambling, binge eating, compulsive shopping, and hypersexuality [A recent study reported a 5‐year cumulative ICD incidence rate of 46% [The mechanism of ICDs is not entirely understood but dysfunction of the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic pathway plays a key role and abnormal sensitization of the limbic dopaminergic system, combined with a relatively preserved dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic pathways and reduced dopamine transporter (DAT) expression in ventral striatum have been clearly shown [There is also evidence of a role of the noradrenergic system in decision-making and reward processes in rodents [In this context, we conducted a multicentre prospective, randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of clonidine on ICDs and its safety in PD patients in a phase 2b study in preparation for a phase 3 trial.