Diabetes drug may hold promise for Parkinson’s patients, notes new research

A new study, led by University College London (UCL), has demonstrated that a diabetes drug (exenatide) may offer potentially disease-modifying attributes to patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

The researchers found that Parkinson’s sufferers who injected themselves with the diabetes drug for a year experienced better motor function when tested versus those who injected a placebo.

“This is a very promising finding, as the drug holds potential to affect the course of the disease itself, and not merely the symptoms,” said the study’s senior author, Professor Tom Foltynie (UCL Institute of Neurology). “With existing treatments, we can relieve most of the symptoms for some years, but the disease continues to worsen.”

The study, published in The Lancet and funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), followed 60 patients with Parkinson’s disease being treated at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN). Treatment involved once-weekly injections of either a placebo or exenatide, in addition to regular medications, and the treatment cycle lasted 48 weeks.

At 48-weeks, the end of the treatment period, every patient’s motor function was tested and it was found that those taking exenatide had improved function, which also continued after the 12-week follow up. For those patients who had been treated with placebo, motor function decreased at the 48- and 60-week follow up.

The study population were tested while temporarily off all medication so that disease progression could be assessed. This research did not determine conclusively whether the drug modified the disease, however, so this will be investigated more fully in the next stage.

“This is the strongest evidence we have so far that a drug could do more than provide symptom relief for Parkinson’s disease,” added Foltynie.

“Using approved therapies for one condition to treat another, or drug repurposing, offers new avenues to speed Parkinson’s therapeutic development,” commented Dr Brian Fiske, senior vice president of research programmes at MJFF. “The results from the exenatide studies justify continued testing, but clinicians and patients are urged not to add exenatide to their regimens until more is known about their safety and impact on Parkinson’s.”

“While we are optimistic about the results of our trial, there is more investigation to be done, and it will be a number of years before a new treatment could be approved and ready for use. We also hope to learn why exenatide appears to work better for some patients than for others,” concluded the study’s first author, Dr Dilan Athauda (UCL Institute of Neurology).