Oxford volunteers help test an earlier approach to Parkinson’s

A small trial involving Oxford volunteers has reported improved movement scores after an experimental drug aimed at brain inflammation. The participants had a sleep disorder linked to higher Parkinson’s risk; they had not been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

The study enrolled 41 people in Oxford and Sydney. Thirty took SNT-4728 daily for 12 weeks; eleven received a dummy pill. Parkinson’s UK, which helped fund the research, says the movement difference was statistically significant 12 weeks after treatment stopped. Brain scans also measured inflammation before and after treatment.

The Oxford research team explains how its long-running Discovery cohort helps recruit people with isolated REM sleep behaviour disorder, in which they act out dreams. This makes it possible to test potential interventions before a Parkinson’s diagnosis.

There was no improvement in sleep, cognition or quality of life. These early results do not show that the drug prevents or delays Parkinson’s, and larger studies are needed.

For volunteers contributing their time, the new findings provide a useful next step: evidence to guide further testing of an earlier approach to treatment.

Sources

• Parkinson’s UK — New SNT-4728 movement results
• NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre — How the trial recruited volunteers
• Syntara — Brain-imaging design and PET scanning in the trial
• Oxford University Hospitals — The Neurosciences Department’s location