UP Study Results: the study explored UDCA in people with Parkinsons

We're very pleased to share the UP Study Results!📢

Led by Prof Oliver Bandmann, the study explored UDCA in people with #Parkinsons

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clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...

[Farooqji]

text of the report

The UP study, led by Professor Oliver Bandmann, explored Ursodeoxycholic Acid (UDCA) in people with Parkinson's. Participants were randomly assigned to either the UDCA group or placebo (a fake pill) group. Two thirds of the participants took UDCA, and one third took placebo. UDCA is a drug previously only used to treat liver disease. It was chosen from a screen of over 2000 drugs because of its potential to rescue the function of the powerhouse of the cell, mitochondria. Key Study Findings:

UDCA is safe and well tolerated in people with Parkinson's

There were no serious reactions throughout the trial in those taking UDCA. The common side effects were milddiarrhoea and nausea, both were short lasting and required no intervention.

UDCA had a promising impact on people's walking

Cautiously promising results showed that people taking UDCA showed either less deterioration or an improvement in some walking measures. The sensors measured cadence (number of steps per minute), stride time (the time one foot is off the floor), stance time (the time both feet are spent the floor) and the consistency of these measures.

Brain scans showed that UDCA reached the target area in the brain

The functional imaging (31P-MR spectroscopy) showed some promising data that UDCA helped improve the energy production of the mitochondria in the midbrain, the area of the brain predominantly affected by Parkinson's (evidence of target engagement).

Next Steps ...

The main question of whether UDCA is safe and well tolerated in people withParkinson's was conclusively confirmed.However, because the sample size (20 people taking UDCA and 10 people taking placebo) was relatively small, we cannot conclusively answer whether UDCA can prevent damage to brain cells (neuroprotective effect). We are hoping to get funding to conduct a larger study which would allow us to test UDCA in a larger cohort over longer period of time.

The UK NHS

Parkinson'sCinical Studies DiseaseGroup CHARITYNIHR Sheffield Research ClinicalFacility CP CUREPARKINSON'SNIHR Research Sheffield CentreBiomedical SITraN Sheffield Teaching IHSFoundfartionHospitalsTroot

[Farooqji in reply to Farooqji]

and when there will be a final phase with greater number of participants, the result may look like "it is concluded that the improvements were not statistically significant "

[Boscoejean]

scienceofparkinsons.com/tag...

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been proposed as a drug that could be repurposed for Parkinson’s. As a medication, it is called ‘Ursodiol‘ and it is used to treat gallstones.

But there are absorption issues with UDCA: The passage of UDCA through the wall of the small intestine is slow and incomplete (Source).

There may be a solution, however, called Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA). Think of it as UDCA-2.0. It is more easily absorbed by the gut. And there is also good evidence to suggest that it has the same beneficial neuroprotective properties as UDCA.