Exenatide and the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Exenatide in the context of parkinson's disease.

As a proof of concept, using a single-blind trial design, the researchers evaluated the progress of 45 patients with moderate Parkinson's disease (PD), randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous exenatide injection for 12 months or to act as controls.

Their PD was compared after overnight withdrawal of conventional PD medication using blinded video assessment of the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), together with several nonmotor tests, at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months and after a further 2-month washout period (14 months).

Who Took Part

The study group was 45 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and single-blind study.

Because people in this Exenatide study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Exenatide study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

In this single-blind Exenatide study one party knew the assignments and the other did not.

A time span of 12 months appears in the methods.

What Was Measured

As a proof of concept, using a single-blind trial design, the researchers evaluated the progress of 45 patients with moderate Parkinson's disease (PD), randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous exenatide injection for 12 months or to act as controls.

Their PD was compared after overnight withdrawal of conventional PD medication using blinded video assessment of the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), together with several nonmotor tests, at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months and after a further 2-month washout period (14 months).

The subject headings attached to it are Antiparkinson Agents, Constipation, Disease Progression, Drug Repositioning, Exenatide, Hypoglycemic Agents and Motor Activity.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and single-blind study of Exenatide in 45 patients in people with parkinson's disease over 12 months.

The publication is from 2013 (The Journal of clinical investigation), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Exenatide compound page, Parkinson's disease research.