Christian Holscher
Lancaster University, UK
Title: Drugs developed to treat type 2 diabetes show protective effects in Parkinson and Alzheimer’s disease
Biography
Biography: Christian Holscher
Abstract
Long acting analogues of the incretin hormone Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) have shown very promising results in preclinical studies of a range of diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease. GLP-1 analogues can readily cross the blood brain barrier, which set them apart from other growth factors. Another important aspect is that there are GLP-1 receptor agonists already on the market as a treatment for type 2 diabetes (liraglutide, Victoza®, exendin-4, Byetta®, lixisenatide Lyxumia®). Based on the extensive pre-clinical evidence, several clinical trials are currently under way, testing liraglutide and exendin-4 in AD and PD patients. A clinical trial of liraglutide in AD patients is ongoing. A recently completed clinical trial of exendin-4 in PD patients showed very promising effects. We have tested a range of novel analogues of dual agonists of GLP-1 and Glucose dependent Insulinotrophic Polypeptide (GIP) receptors. These are effective in reducing the hallmarks of AD in an APP/PS1 mouse model. Amyloid plaque load, amyloid levels, synapse loss, oxidative stress and the chronic inflammation response was reduced in the brain. Memory formation and synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus was enhanced, as was neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. These novel peptide drugs show great promise to be developed as neuro protective drugs. They are currently in clinical trials in diabetes and therefore can be tested in Alzheimer’s patients without delay.