The "UP-study" phase 2 trial of UDCA Co funded by Cure Parkinson's led by Prof Oliver Bandmann

Cure Parkinson's UK has announced the publication of the results from the 'UP Study,' a phase 2 clinical trial of the liver drug UDCA in Parkinson's, in the journal Movement Disorders.
Led by Professor Oliver Bandmann at the University of Sheffield and supported by Cure Parkinson's, the study aimed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of UDCA as a treatment for Parkinson's, with some evidence of improved cell energy production.
In 2018, Cure Parkinson’s awarded a grant to Professor Oliver Bandmann and colleagues to run a phase 2 clinical trial of UDCA in people with Parkinson’s - called the ‘UP-Study’. The trial involved 30 patients, two-thirds of the volunteers took UDCA while the remainder took a placebo drug - with no active ingredients.
The study was a placebo-controlled, double blind, randomised clinical trial. Before, during and after 48 weeks of daily tablets, various measures were taken from the participants. These included movement and mobility symptoms, along with a high-tech scan to see if UDCA is improving brain chemistry.
UDCA - the background
In 2013, researchers found that UDCA was a top performer in a screen for potential anti-Parkinson’s drugs. The researchers were looking for compounds that could address a process known as mitochondrial dysfunction, which is linked to Parkinson’s. They found that the long-established liver drug UDCA appeared to rescue this problem in cells of tissue samples taken from people with Parkinson’s.
UDCA - the history behind this promising drug for Parkinson’s
UDCA (ursodeoxycholic acid, or ursodiol) is a natural bile acid that was approved as a drug in the late 1980’s. It is used to dissolve gallstones and treat a form of liver disease called cirrhosis.
A decade after its approval, researchers looking at its action in cirrhosis found that UDCA has a beneficial effect on mitochondria - the small energy processing parts within cells . This has the knock-on effect of preventing liver cells from self-destructing . More recently, scientists in Korea found UDCA exerted similar effects in nerve cells that had been exposed to a toxin, to mimic Parkinson’s.
Meanwhile, researchers in Sheffield hit upon UDCA via a different route. Professor Oliver Bandmann and colleagues screened a library of 2,000 compounds specifically for their impact on the faulty mitochondrial processes seen in Parkinson’s. They tested all the compounds in cells of people with Parkinson’s and discovered that UDCA appeared to rescue mitochondria function and normalise the energy levels in the cells.
This finding was then replicated in a further study, which also affects mitochondria. A similar effect has also been seen in animal models with induced Parkinson’s - here UDCA also appeared to have anti-inflammatory properties which helped cells to survive.
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[@audreyboyle52]

Recruitment (400 people) for the phase 3 multiarm, multistage trial will hopefully start in a years time according to Prof Bandmann. The eligibility criteria are likely to be very wide and inclusive

[@lrduff]

What's required to be included?

[@michaeloconnor9465]

Did you try B1.

[@johnsposato5632]

My wife is taking high dose B1. Seems to be working.

[@audreyboyle52]

The related compound TUDCA is widely available as a supplement and may have similar effects imo

[@michaeloconnor9465]

@@johnsposato5632 I am using TTFD B1 because it easily gets into the brain and you don't need a very high does because it is very potent, but it is expensive. 200mg a day. nearly all of it is absorbed into the brain. The salts only 5% to 10% is absorbed into the blood and and it doesn't cross the blood brain barrier easily, where TTFD B1 has no trouble passing the blood brain barrier. I also do a keto diet. What a video's by Dr Mathew Phillips who is a neurologist in New Zealand who has used keytones to feed the neurone energy all over the body, and his short clinical trial showed it lowered markers in non motor symptoms very well.

[@michaeloconnor9465]

@@audreyboyle52 Is it the same as UDCA, I see that UDCA is only available on prescription.