Conditions: Parkinson's Disease Helicobacter Infections Motor Fluctuations
Keywords: Parkinson's disease levodopa Helicobacter pylori
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 64
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment of H. pylori (an infection of the stomach) improves treatment effectiveness in patients with Parkinson's disease and motor fluctuations.

Detailed description:
Previous investigations have demonstrated that treatment of Helicobacter pylori with antibiotics leads to improved absorption and pharmacokinetics of levodopa. This may potentially benefit patients with Parkinson's disease who have motor fluctuations, specifically excessive "off" time, when their levodopa is not working to control symptoms. We seek to identify the frequency of H. pylori infection in this population using standard lab assays and determine whether eradication with standard triple therapy results in improved clinical response to medication.

Arms:
arm 1: These subject receive treatment with active triple therapy followed by treatment with placebo therapy. arm 2: These subject receive treatment with placebo therapy followed by treatment with active triple therapy.

Interventions: intervention 1: clartihromycin, amoxicillin, and omeprazole intervention 2: placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: clarithromycin 500mg - i PO BID x10 days; amoxicillin 1gm - i PO BID x10 days; omeprazole 10mg - i PO BID x10 days intervention 2: placebo therapy

Protocol document: