A new clinical trial has revealed promising results for a pioneering drug specifically designed to reduce inflammation in the brain, which may be able to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease, something none of the current drugs can achieve.
The drug, which has the trade name SNT-4728, was tested on a group of patients suffering from a rare sleep disorder known as "REM sleep behavior disorder isolated".
The importance of this category of patients lies in the fact that about 70% of them develop Parkinson's disease or similar neurodegenerative conditions within 15 years of being diagnosed with this disorder.
This disorder occurs when the body loses its natural ability to immobilize itself during sleep, causing the person to act out their dreams physically or verbally. In severe cases, this can escalate to punching or kicking during sleep, or even falling out of bed.
Australian pharmaceutical company Syntara conducted a phase 2 trial involving 41 patients in both the UK and Australia. Three-quarters of the participants received a daily dose of the drug, while the remainder received a placebo. The trial lasted three months.
The results showed that 20 out of 30 patients who received the drug experienced a significant reduction in inflammation in the putamen area of the brain, the region responsible for controlling movement and motor skills, which is associated with Parkinson's symptoms such as slowness of movement, rigidity, and tremor.
Unlike current Parkinson's medications that only help relieve symptoms without treating the root cause of the disease, this drug targets inflammation in the brain, which scientists believe contributes to the damage and death of dopamine-producing nerve cells.
The drug is distinguished by its ability to suppress harmful inflammation without completely suppressing the immune system.
Dr. Lindsay Bilsland, managing director of the Global Drug Development Programme at Parkinson's UK, which funded the research, described the early results as "encouraging." She said: "By targeting Parkinson's symptoms before they appear, we can slow the condition down or even stop it in its tracks. These results pave the way for further trials that could lead to a drug capable of slowing or stopping the progression of symptoms, something no drug currently does."
Professor Simon Lewis, director of the Parkinson's Research Clinic at Macquarie University in Australia, commented: "Achieving statistically significant reductions in such a short period of time is remarkable and suggests that the drug may be able to modify the neuroinflammatory pathways associated with the disease."
It is important to note that this trial was primarily designed to measure changes in brain inflammation, not to assess whether the drug prevents Parkinson's disease. Therefore, longer and larger studies will be needed to confirm whether reducing inflammation actually slows disease progression.
The full results of the study are scheduled to be published later this year.
