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Researchers at University College London (UCL) plan to test a cough medicine as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. This is ambroxol, intended to contain respiratory diseases and eliminate mucus.
The drug is also known for its anti-inflammatory properties. The idea is that the study on effectiveness will begin in the first half of 2023.
Previously, researchers tested the ambroxol in people with Parkinson’s and found that the drug can reach the brain and increase levels of a protein known as GCase (glucocerebrosidase), which allows cells to remove waste proteins. That study showed that ambroxol was safe for patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
This next phase should include 330 people with Parkinson’s, who will take ambroxol for two years. The effectiveness of the medicine will be measured by its ability to slow the progression of the disease using a scale that includes quality of life and movement.
“This will be the first time that a drug applied specifically to a genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease has reached this level of testing and represents ten years of extensive and detailed work in the laboratory”, state the authors.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1% of the world’s population over 65 suffer from this disease.
Science has long sought methods to identify and treat the condition. A study has already highlighted the discovery of a new substance that can prevent the evolution of the disease: it is a substance based on tyrosine — an amino acid that can be produced naturally by the body or taken in through food and supplements — and acts directly on TRPM2one of the calcium entry channels into brain cells.
Previously, Chinese scientists invented a new device capable of simulating an electronic nose and tracking cases of Parkinson’s disease through the smell of patients, at an early stage. The tool is still being improved, but the initial results are promising, according to the team of scientists.
