Exenatide has potential as a disease modifying agent in Parkinson's disease

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From the Journal of Parkinson's Disease (5/6):

Exenatide has potential as a disease modifying agent in Parkinson's disease

A follow-up study of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who participated in an earlier "proof of concept" clinical trial using exenatide showed that improvements persisted twelve months after discontinuing exenatide therapy. These data provide strong encouragement for the further study of this drug in patients with PD, report researchers in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.

Several recent discoveries have highlighted common cellular pathways that potentially relate neurodegenerative processes with abnormal mitochondrial function and abnormal glucose metabolism.

Exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist (GLP-1 agonist) medication marketed as Byetta® and Bydureon® and used in the treatment of insulin resistance in patients with Type 2 diabetes, has been proposed as a disease modifying drug in PD. Earlier studies had shown that exenatide is neuroprotective and promotes functionally beneficial neuroplasticity in animal models of neurodegeneration. Furthermore, exenatide has a favorable safety profile, with only relatively mild gastrointestinal side effects (including nausea and weight loss) as frequent adverse events....

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