Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash
Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

An Ozempic-like drug used for diabetes could also help early stage Parkinsons

Embargoed until: Publicly released:
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

Randomised controlled trial: Subjects are randomly assigned to a test group, which receives the treatment, or a control group, which commonly receives a placebo. In 'blind' trials, participants do not know which group they are in; in ‘double blind’ trials, the experimenters do not know either. Blinding trials helps removes bias.

People: This is a study based on research using people.

A drug used for diabetes, which works in a similar way to Ozempic, has shown some promise in a clinical trial for early-stage Parkinson's disease. The drug, lixisenatide, is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist and compared to placebo it has been found to help slow the progression of motor disability after 12 months in a small phase 2 trial. The researchers also found significant gastrointestinal side effects including nausea in 46% of people receiving lixisenatide, and vomiting in 13%. They say longer and larger trials are needed to determine the effects and safety of lixisenatide in persons with Parkinson’s disease.

Journal/conference: New England Journal of Medicine

Research: Paper

Organisation/s: French Clinical Research Network (F-CRIN) for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, University of Toulouse 3

Funder: Supported by grants from the French Ministry of Health (PHRC-N program, PHRC-16-0402) and Cure Parkinson’s (in partnership with the Van Andel Institute).

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  • Massachusetts Medical Society
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