Anti-diabetic could treat Parkinson's disease

Previous studies showed that exenatide, used to treat type 2 diabetes, improves motor and non-motor function in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Now a new study has raised the prospect that exenatide might impact this debilitating disease. PD patients taking exenatide remained essentially unchanged throughout treatment and a year after the trial ended. Controls showed the expected decline in movement and cognitive ability.

Researchers from UCL Institute of Neurology followed 20 individuals who completed 12 months treatment with exenatide and 24 controls from the same study for another 12 months. No patient received exenatide during follow up.

Exenatide's benefits 'were sustained … far beyond the 12 month' study. For example, patients who received exenatide still showed improved motor scores a year after stopping exenatide compared to baseline. Controls showed a mean decline. When the researchers added rigidity to motor scores, both groups showed a decline from baseline. However, the reduction was significantly less marked among PD patients who received exenatide during the study. Scores on a dementia rating scale were also better in the exenatide group than controls.