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Lixisenatide Reduces Motor Disability Progression in Parkinson Disease

Lixisenatide results in less progression of motor disability than placebo at 12 months for individuals with early Parkinson disease

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 4, 2024 (HealthDay News) — For patients with Parkinson disease, lixisenatide yields less progression of motor disability than placebo, according to a study published in the April 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Wassilios G. Meissner, M.D., Ph.D., from the French Clinical Research Network for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder in Toulouse, and colleagues conducted a phase 2 randomized trial involving patients with Parkinson disease. Participants who were diagnosed less than three years earlier, receiving a stable dose of medications to treat symptoms, and did not have motor complications were randomly assigned to daily subcutaneous lixisenatide or placebo for 12 months in a 1:1 ratio (78 participants in each group) followed by a two-month washout period.

The researchers found that scores on the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part III had changed by −0.04 points and 3.04 points in the lixisenatide and placebo groups, indicating improvement and worsening disability, respectively. After a two-month washout period, at 14 months, the mean MDS-UPDRS motor scores were 17.7 and 20.6 with lixisenatide and placebo, respectively, in the off-medication state. Nausea and vomiting occurred in 46 and 13 percent, respectively, of participants receiving lixisenatide.

“The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist lixisenatide had a three-point beneficial effect, as compared with placebo, in the change over a 12-month period from a baseline value of approximately 15 points on a 132-point scale measuring motor disability,” the authors write.

Sanofi provided the medication and placebo for the study.

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