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In previous studies, exenatide was shown to improve motor and non-motor function in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Now a new study raises the prospect that it might modify the course of the condition itself.

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.

Patients with PD appeared unchanged throughout exenatide treatment and for a year after the trial ended, while controls showed the expected gradual decline in movement and cognitive ability.

Exenatide’s benefits “were sustained ... far beyond” the end of the 12-month follow-up. For example, patients who had received exenatide still showed improved motor scores a year after stopping treatment compared to baseline, while controls showed a mean decline. The combination of rigidity and motor scores declined from baseline in both groups but the reduction was significantly less in those who had taken exenatide.

Strong encouragement

Scores on a dementia rating scale were also better in the exenatide group than controls. The authors stress that the findings “must still not be interpreted as evidence of neuroprotection”. Nevertheless, the data provides “strong encouragement” for assessing exenatide “as a potential disease modifying agent in Parkinson’s disease”.

“Treatments for Parkinson’s have, until today, lasted only a matter of a few hours and in the long-term, the degeneration of symptoms has always been a terrible but inevitable consequence of having the condition. Although further research is needed, for the first time, the results of this trial suggest that exenatide has the capacity to halt the progress of the condition over the course of at least two years,” Tom Isaacs, co-founder and president of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust, told Pharmacy Magazine.

“This is the first time in the 20 years I have lived with Parkinson’s that I have witnessed such robust data that supports the view that we can permanently alter its degenerative nature. The really exciting thing about exenatide is that it is approved for type 2 diabetes and that means ... it won’t have to go through the same time-consuming and expensive safety procedures before it is able to be prescribed to people with Parkinson’s.” (Journal of Parkinson’s Disease doi:10.3233/JPD-140364)