Ambroxol,a cough medicine that could cure Parkinson’s disease.
Ambroxol is a drug commonly used in Europe to treat respiratory diseases and in particular to facilitate expectoration, so to promote the production of mucus and coughing in order to evacuate bacteria, among other things. This molecule also has anti-inflammatory properties.
What does this have to do with Parkinson’s disease?
In fact, ambroxol increases the level of an enzyme that breaks down waste products from the cells. Interestingly, the level of this enzyme is regulated by a gene called GBA. It turns out that mutations in this gene are also associated with Parkinson’s disease. In fact, it is one of the genetic mutations that causes the most cases of Parkinson’s disease (between 5 and 8%). Interestingly, even people living with Parkinson’s disease who do not have this genetic mutation have lower enzyme levels, which leads to accumulations of toxic chemicals in the neurons.
In recent years, studies on mice or primates have shown that ambroxol increases the level of this “cleansing” enzyme but also reduces the level of alpha-synuclein, a protein that is partially responsible for Parkinson’s disease.
In 2018, ambroxol was being evaluated in Phase II in 17 patients. Not only is this drug safe for people living with Parkinson’s disease, but it has the ability to reach the brain, which is a big issue with most drugs. Once it reaches the dopaminergic neurons, it increases the concentration of this “cleansing” enzyme.
what about now?
Now, the team of researchers in charge of evaluating this product is developing a plan for large-scale studies that will involve a large number of patients internationally. Hopefully, this program will be deployed in Quebec and provide a solution to Parkinson’s disease.
If you have Parkinson’s disease and you might be interested in this trial, or another one, please contact us on our info reference line:
➡️ Info line reference 1 800 720.1307 (confidential, bilingual, free)