Narcolepsy

On World Narcolepsy Day 2023, get a recap of the latest advances in narcolepsy that you might have missed over the last few months, compiled all into one place by the NeurologyLive team.

Mind Moments®, a podcast from NeurologyLive®, brings you an exclusive interview with Birgitte Kornum, MD. [LISTEN TIME: 18 minutes]

In a large cohort of 848 pediatric participants with challenge-proven food allergy, investigators identified narcolepsy-like sleepiness as a symptom impacting more than 1 in 10 patients with food allergies.

In a recent multisite analysis of 361 patients with REM sleep behavior disorder, 84% had neurological abnormalities in at least one domain observed.

In a recent long-term analysis of a phase 3 trial, the most common treatment-emergent adverse events that led to discontinuation of low-sodium oxybate were cataplexy, headache, nausea, and psychiatric disorders.

Sodium oxybate, an endogenous GHB/GABAB receptor agonist, is clinically used to promote slow-wave sleep and reduce next-day sleepiness in disorders such as for patients with narcolepsy

Acute and sustained treatment with ulotaront did not show a statistically significant decrease from placebo in total number of cataplexy events and had no significant change in other symptomatic ratings over a 2-week treatment period.

In a recent study on patients with narcolepsy type 1, those who used opioid drugs such as oxycodone and codeine were significantly associated with improved self-reported narcolepsy symptom severity.

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis showed that normal mean sleep latency in adults was 11.7 minutes using the earlier definition of sleep onset and 11.8 minutes using the later definition of sleep onset.

The phase 2 trial represented the first-ever clinical data to be published of an oral orexin agonist for patients living with narcolepsy type 1.

Prior research shows that a significant loss of the hypocretin-producing neurons, an increase in the histaminergic neurons, and contradicting signs of gliosis in the hypothalamus among patients with narcolepsy type 1.

Test your neurology knowledge with NeurologyLive®'s weekly quiz series, featuring questions on a variety of clinical and historical neurology topics. This week's topic is sleep disorders.

The findings confirmed and expanded upon existing literature by demonstrating that the incidence rates of multiple cardiovascular events, including stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular disease, are significantly higher in patients with narcolepsy.

A 26-year-old man who presented narcolepsy symptoms tested negative for the condition, but a reassessment of the cerebrospinal fluid hypocretin-1 4 years later showed a dramatic decrease.

Completion of the 12-week program was associated with reported improvements in overall changes in sleep parameters of sleep latency, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, and others.

Mind Moments®, a podcast from NeurologyLive®, brings you an exclusive interview with Ann Marie Morse, DO, FAAN. [LISTEN TIME: 20 minutes]

In a secondary analysis of a double-blind trial, mazindol extended-release outperformed placebo on clinician and patient scales of cataplexy severity and excessive daytime sleepiness.

John Harsh, PhD, clinical research director, Colorado Sleep Institute, sat down at SLEEP 2023 to discuss the RESTORE study results, and why patients with narcolepsy appear to prefer once-nightly sodium oxybate.

Patients on twice-nightly oxybate reported more issues with inconvenience, anxiety, and feeling somewhat, quite a bit, or extremely groggy/unsteady the next morning.

Preclinical findings show the potential of samelisant, a potent and orally active Histamine H3 receptor inverse agonist, as a potential treatment for patients with Parkinson disease who experience excessive daytime sleepiness.

The chief medical officer of Harmony Biosciences provided perspective on a proof-of-concept study assessing pitolisant’s (Wakix) clinical benefit in reducing excessive daytime sleepiness individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Nearly all patients showed improvement on the Patient Global Impression of Change scale, regardless of sleep inertia status, assessed through a visual analog scale.

Following 13 weeks of treatment with once-nightly sodium oxybate, some patients in the 7.5 g and 9.0 g groups showed complete resolution of cataplexy attacks.

Pitolisant, a therapy approved for patients with narcolepsy, is currently being assessed in 200 individuals with idiopathic hypersomnia, with change in excessive daytime sleepiness as the primary outcome.

Alternative multiple sleep latency test parameters was found to be a better identification method for recognizing hypocretin-deficiency among patients with hypersomnolence and narcolepsy.