UCL launches clinical trial to test whether cough medicine ambroxol can slow Parkinson’s disease
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University College London launches two-year clinical trial to test whether cough medicine ambroxol can slow Parkinson’s disease
- Early studies show that ambroxol appears to kill harmful brain proteins
- Parkinson’s disease affects brain cells that control movement throughout the body
- Currently there are no treatments capable of combating the neuro condition
- Half of the 330 patients in the trial will receive the drug, the rest a placebo
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A major trial has been announced to test whether a cough medicine will delay Parkinson’s.
Early studies suggest that the drug, called ambroxol, appears to kill harmful proteins in the brain that are associated with degenerative disease.
There are currently no treatments capable of combating the neurological condition, which affects cells in the part of the brain that controls body movement.
Experts say the new study is the closest scientists have come to developing an effective treatment for Parkinson’s.
UCL is launching a major two-year clinical trial to determine whether a common cough medicine can slow deterioration in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
The drug, Ambroxol, which comes in pill and syrup form, is already used to relieve coughs by clearing mucus in the lungs of patients with respiratory diseases.
Ambroxol, which comes in pill and syrup form, is already used to relieve coughs by clearing mucus from the lungs of patients with respiratory diseases. But it also increases levels of a protein called glucocerebrosidase, known as GCase, in the brain.
GCase is crucial for removing a harmful substance, called alpha-synuclein, which scientists believe accumulates in the brains of Parkinson’s patients and is responsible for their symptoms, which include involuntary tremors, slow movements and stiff, inflexible joints.
The new trial, which will take place in up to 12 UK hospitals, will recruit 330 Parkinson’s patients. Half of the participants will take ambroxol for two years and the other half will receive a placebo drug. At the end of this period, the researchers will analyze the progression of Parkinson’s disease in the two groups, looking specifically at the participants’ quality of life and movement.
There are over 140,000 people living with Parkinson’s in the UK. Doctors are still not sure what triggers it and there is currently no cure, but patients can take medications that reduce the main symptoms.
Professor Anthony Schapira, a neurologist at University College London and principal investigator of the trial, says: “This will be the first time that a drug applied specifically to a cause of Parkinson’s disease has reached this level of testing.”
Professor David Dexter, associate director of research at the charity Parkinson’s UK, added: “People with Parkinson’s desperately need new and better treatments.” If this trial is successful, ambroxol has the potential to be available in years, not decades.”
The drug also increases levels of a protein called glucocerebrosidase, known as GCase, in the brain. GCase is crucial for removing a harmful substance, called alpha-synuclein, which scientists believe accumulates in the brains of Parkinson’s patients and is responsible for their symptoms, which include involuntary tremors, slow movements and stiff, inflexible joints.