IU Research Suggests Possible New Treatment for Parkinson's Disease – The Daily Iowan

New research published by the UI suggests that terazosin, a drug on the market, could change the trajectory of Parkinson's treatment.

Collaboration between researchers, clinicians and scientists at the University of Iowa culminated in Monday's release of a new Parkinson's study suggesting that a drug used to treat prostate hypertrophy could slow down the progression of Parkinson's disease. neurodegenerative disease.

Michael Welsh, director of the Bioinformatics Institute of UI Pappajohn, lead author of the study, said it was its author, Lei Liu in Beijing, who had discovered that terazosin could increase the metabolism of the drug. cellular energy.

After forming a team, the two men began to study how the drug could slow neurodegeneration, or cell death, in patients with Parkinson's.

Using information gathered from databases, researchers found that older men with Parkinson's disease who had been prescribed terazosin for unrelated reasons exhibited a decrease in motor and cognitive symptoms, as well as that fewer complications. Animal experiments have produced similar results.

"I fell off my chair a few times now, because it's really exciting," Welsh said. "This is a unique study because of the aggregation of data from animal and human databases. It has not really been possible before. "

Researchers may have the opportunity to change the lives of people with Parkinson's disease, Welsh said, although the combination of animal and human results is not yet a solution.

"I want people to know that there is real hope," he said. "But this is not yet proof."

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Then, the IU research team will conduct a double-blind, randomized study to prove the efficacy of terazonin in Parkinson's patients, Welsh said.

UI neurologist Kumar Narayanan said the data was only retrospective, and researchers needed to gather prospective evidence to convince others that the drug could treat Parkinson's disease.

Narayanan said the team is currently in Phase 1 trials to determine the feasibility and safety of the drug. It is important to test every aspect of the drug's effects in a rigorous way, he said, as many promising drugs fail in the second and third phases.

There is currently no disease-modifying therapy to slow Parkinson's motor regression, Naranayan said. Parkinson's approach to metabolism is a new path, and UI researchers are leading the way.

Narayanan said that Parkinson's disease affects 1% of Americans over 65 in the United States. As age increases, the relevance of Parkinson's disease will also increase.

Patients with symptoms such as slowness of movement, autonomic dysfunction, etc., Narayanan said, strongly motivated the research.

"Parkinson's is a big problem in Iowa, so it's really close to home," Narayanan said. "I have learned to be optimistic … because what is the alternative?"

In terms of treatment, patients use levodopa, dopamine antagonists and brain stimulation. The other tests were largely negative, said Narayanan.

"It's an incredibly debilitating and dehumanizing disease," Narayanan said.

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UI Pharm.D. Jordan Schultz said he could initially only find 13 people with Parkinson's disease taking the drug, but the results were undeniable.

Now, Schultz said that he would translate mouse results in humans. There is a group of patients eager to participate in the trials and the researchers hope to expand their activities to larger studies in the year.

"The first step is to make sure that the dose, the route of administration, the formulation, will all be safe for this new patient population," Schultz said. "We have to make sure that we act properly with patients."

Schultz attributed to the UI its collaborative culture, which allowed researchers to work in a truly beneficial and impactful way for their patients.

Narayanan said the team believes that a terazosin-based treatment for Parkinson's disease could reduce the rate of disease progression by two-thirds.

"It's hard to be a Parkinson's neurologist," said Narayanan. "J & # 39; hope [this drug’s] The effect would be that motor symptoms will progress less and develop fewer complications. "