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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Ole Isacson: Development of New Therapies for Parkinson's Disease
Published on: April 29, 2007
GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: A New Treatment in Parkinson's Disease
Kallirhoe Kalinderi1, Vasileios Papaliagkas2, Liana Fidani1
1Laboratory of Medical Biology-Genetics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Abstract:
Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Recent data highlight similarities between neurodegenerative diseases, including PD and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), suggesting a crucial interplay between the gut-brain axis. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists, known for their use in T2DM treatment, are currently extensively studied as novel PD modifying agents. For this narrative review article, we searched PubMed and Scopus databases for peer-reviewed research, review articles and clinical trials regarding GLP-1R agonists and PD published in the English language with no time restrictions. We also screened the references of the selected articles for possible additional articles in order to include most of the key recent evidence. Many data on animal models and preclinical studies show that GLP1-R agonists can restore dopamine levels, inhibit dopaminergic loss, attenuate neuronal degeneration and alleviate motor and non-motor features of PD. Evidence from clinical studies is also very promising, enhancing the possibility of adding GLP1-R agonists to the current armamentarium of drugs available for PD treatment.
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