Prevention of parkinsonism
As a result of the analysis of 100 million medical prescriptions, Norwegian researchers from the University of Bergen have obtained data according to which drugs of the glitazone class (thiazolidinediones), widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, can significantly reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
Glitazones increase the sensitivity of tissues to insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Earlier studies examining the potential ability of drugs in this class to prevent the development of Parkinson's disease have yielded contradictory results.
To clarify this situation, the authors analyzed data from the Norwegian Prescription Database, which contains information not only about all medicines sold in Norwegian pharmacies, but also about patients who were prescribed these drugs.
The researchers studied the relationship between the development of Parkinson's disease and the use of glitazones, as well as metformin, the drug of choice in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Of the patients contained in the database and meeting the criteria of the study, 94349 took metformin from January 2005 to December 2014, and 8396 took glitazones.
Analysis of the collected data showed that, compared with the use of metformin, the probability of developing Parkinson's disease in patients taking glitazones was 28% lower. The exact mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still unclear, but researchers suggest that glitazones can improve the functioning of mitochondria – organelles that produce the energy necessary to maintain the vital activity of the cell.
Earlier studies by the authors showed that mitochondrial production is suppressed in patients with Parkinson's disease. Perhaps glitazones improve the situation by stimulating the synthesis of mitochondrial DNA and increasing the number of mitochondria. However, additional research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
The authors also note a number of limitations of the study, for example, the lack of data on the doses of drugs prescribed to each of the patients. This did not allow them to analyze the possible dependence of the effects of drugs on their dosage. In addition, only patients with an established diagnosis of diabetes mellitus were included in the study, which does not allow transferring the data obtained to the general population.
Article by Brage Brakedal et al. Glitazone use associated with reduced risk of Parkinson's disease is published in the journal Movement Disorders.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of Bergen: Diabetes medicine reduces Parkinson's risk.
29.09.2017