Diabetes drug may offer symptom benefits in Parkinson’s trial
A four-week randomized trial in 12 people found symptom-score changes differed across two diabetes drugs and placebo, with more favorable trends for dapagliflozin.
Our read
Interventions- Studied:
- Randomized trial in 12 patients with Parkinson's disease or Lewy-body dementia, against placebo (Double-blind, placebo-controlled, registered NCT06263673)
- What changed:
- Symptom scores fell with dapagliflozin (median change −7.0 points) versus placebo (−3.5 points)
- The catch:
- Blood sugar changes could influence motor scores, but follow-up HbA1c measurements were missing
- Stake:
- An author works for Clinigma.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Eleven people with Parkinson’s disease and one with dementia with Lewy bodies, all with prediabetes or mild early diabetes, entered a randomized, double-blind pilot trial. Seven were men. Median ages were 66.3 years with placebo, 73.9 with sitagliptin and 69.5 with dapagliflozin. Four people per group received placebo, sitagliptin 100 mg or dapagliflozin 10 mg for four weeks.
Changes on a standard Parkinson’s symptom scale differed across the three groups. Median total scores fell 7.0 points with dapagliflozin and 3.5 with placebo, but rose 2.5 with sitagliptin. The authors described more favorable trends with dapagliflozin. Cognitive scores did not change significantly. No adverse effects were reported.
Why it matters
Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies are progressive brain disorders whose current therapies largely target symptoms. The authors proposed longer trials to test potential symptom benefits and explore whether these drugs alter disease progression.
Caveats
Four people per group over four weeks could not establish lasting benefits or long-term safety, and the three-group comparison did not establish that dapagliflozin outperformed placebo. All participants had prediabetes or mild early diabetes, and only one had dementia with Lewy bodies.
From the paper
- Participants
The study included 12 patients.
- Harms
There were no adverse effects reported during the course of the study.
Quoted word for word from the full text on PubMed Central.
The paper
Anti-diabetic medications to fight Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies: a pilot study
Mayo Clinic
Frontiers in Neurology, May 29, 2026, Open access
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