title: Disease-Modifying Drugs in Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: Despite an increased understanding of the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), and a number of drugs designed to ameliorate symptoms, finding an effective neuroprotective therapy remains elusive. For decades now, several promising agents targeting different pathways have been explored as potential treatments that could help slow disease progression, but these have met with limited success. There are hurdles to overcome, particularly given that there is no exact animal model of PD and also no reliable biomarkers for PD. Without biomarkers, it is not possible to demonstrate, in the context of a clinical trial, that an intervention prevents neuronal degeneration. However, given the compelling scientific rationale of several compounds, an unrelenting pursuit continues. There have been hundreds of human studies looking at neuroprotection in PD. This article will briefly summarize several of the neuroprotective treatments that have been evaluated in large clinical trials, and will also outline some of the newer therapies that are currently being explored.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. ariane.park@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stacy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents