Based on new research collected and released by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, diabetes patients who take glitazone antidiabetes drugs, whether it was rosiglitazone or pioglitazone, saw a 28 percent reduction in the likelihood of contracting Parkinson’s disease as opposed to those taking differing antidiabetic treatments. The study has since been published in PLOS Medicine.
Glitazones are a type of drug that trigger the peroxisome proliferation-activated gamma (PPARγ) receptor, which is located inside cells in various, multiple body organs. PPARγ activation via glitazones would usually result in reduced insulin resistance, which has been a resourceful means for treating patients with diabetes. However, the receptor has several other functions that have not yet been fully examined or explored as meticulously in humans. And while the potential effect of glitazones on Parkinson’s disease had been revealed in rodents in prior studies, the researchers trust that their study specifically highlights glitazones use and relationship with humans in regards to undercutting/preventing the development of Parkinson’s disease.
The study, which was funded by The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, looked at and examined over 160,000 diabetes patients in the United Kingdom. Researchers utilized electronic health records from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink in order to match 44,597 glitazone users with 120,373 people using other antidiabetic drugs. Glitazone users were paired by variants of age, sex, GP practice, and diabetes treatment stage; along with up to five users of contrasting diabetic treatments. Patients then received a follow up from 1999, the year in which glitazones were first introduced to tackle diabetes, to the year 2013 in order to conclude how many patients were diagnosed with Parkinson’s over the course of that 14 year period.
“We often hear about negative side effects associated with medications, but sometimes there can also be unintended beneficial effects. Our findings provide unique evidence that we hope will drive further investigation into potential drug treatments for Parkinson’s disease. It’s thought that around one in 500 people are affected by Parkinson’s, and to date no effective treatments have been found to directly tackle the neurodegenerative aspect of the disease,” said senior author, Dr. Ian Douglas, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Results indicated a 28 percent decrease in development of Parkinson’s disease among patients taking glitazones as opposed to those taking other forms of antidiabetic treatments. Risk factors linked to Parkinson’s disease such as smoking and head injury, had no influence on the results. The results determined that the diminished risk of contracting Parkinson’s disease could only be linked to current treatment usage with glitazones; and that there is little to no lsating benefit if patients have taken the treatment in the past prior to stopping and moving on to a different drug.
“Our results suggest that treatments which activate the PPARγ receptor in the same way as glitazones could be promising targets in future drug research. Although our study only looked at people with diabetes, we believe it’s likely that the protective effect of glitazones may also be seen in people without diabetes,” noted Dr. Ruth Brauer, who also worked on the study while at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
