LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Two problematic diabetes drugsassociated with worrying side effects may reduce the risk ofpatients developing Parkinson's disease, offering a springboardfor further research, scientists said on Tuesday.
An analysis of more than 160,000 British diabetics foundthat those taking either rosiglitazone or pioglitazone had a 28percent lower incidence of Parkinson's than people taking otherdiabetes treatments.
The two medicines, which are now off-patent, were developedby GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda, respectively,and sold under the brand names Avandia and Actos.
Rosiglitazone use was curbed due to heart concerns, althoughrestrictions were later lifted, while pioglitazone was hit byconcerns over a possible link to bladder cancer.
The scientists, who published their findings in the journalPLOS Medicine, do not recommend these drugs be used to treatParkinson's directly but rather that the biological pathwaysthey activate should be explored in future research.
"We often hear about negative side effects associated withmedications, but sometimes there can also be unintendedbeneficial effects," said senior researcher Ian Douglas from theLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
"Our findings provide unique evidence that we hope willdrive further investigation into potential drug treatments forParkinson's disease."
The study was funded by the Michael J Fox Foundation forParkinson's Research.
It only included patients with diabetes who had not beendiagnosed with Parkinson's and therefore could not show whethertaking the drugs might slow or prevent progression of thedegenerative brain disease.
Another recently published clinical trial found thatpioglitazone was unlikely to modify progression in earlyParkinson's. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Pravin Char)