Diabetes drug may slow Parkinson's disease, says new research

A medicine similar to the ones used in skinny jab could helpslow the progression of symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, research says.

More than 10 million people around the world are living with Parkinson’s – a condition where the brain slowly loses nerve cells, leading to issues with mobility, balance, and memory, among other things, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

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In recent years glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (or GLP-1R agonists) have caused excitement, with one such drug, a type 2 diabetes medication called exenatide, found to help slow the progression of motor symptoms in a small group of people.Pow researchers say another such drug, a type 2 diabetes medication called lixisenatide, appears to do the same, supporting the theory that Parkinson’s could be associated with insulin resistance in the brain.

Prof Wassilios Meissner, of University hospital of Bordeaux, a principal investigator of the study, said the results were motivating.

“We have to stay careful about all the understanding and about applicability at the present stage, but it is really a very, very clear and strong signal we have never seen except in the exenatide trial,” he said.

Researchers from France write in the New England Journal of Medicine how they divided 156 individuals with recent Parkinson's disease diagnosis into two equal-sized groups.

Each group received their regular Parkinson's medicine, but one also received a daily injection of lixisenatide, and the other received a placebo.

Before, during and after the study, participants underwent a test of their motor symptoms and were given a score on a disease-severity scale.

The results show that after 12 months, those given lixisenatide showed basically no progression of motor problems, and those given the placebo showed worsening symptoms, dropping around three points on the 132-point assessment scale – a modest difference, yet thought to be clinically meaningful.

The difference continued two months after the trial stopped and other Parkinson’s medications were halted overnight.

As per the researchers, lixisenatide shields the brain from neuronal death in addition to reducing symptoms. However, there was a disadvantage as13 per cent of those who took lixisenatide reported vomiting, and approximately half of those who received it reported feeling nauseated.

The researchers say that further efforts and more research is now required to determine whether lixisenatide actually slows the course of the disease, whether the benefits last longer or even get better if the medication is taken for longer, what the ideal dosage is, and whether the medication would be beneficial to patients with Parkinson's disease at other stages.

(With inputs from agencies)