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A pioneering clinical trial for people with a sleep disorder who are at higher risk of developing Parkinson’s has recruited its first UK participant from the Discovery Cohort study at the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC)

UK first syntara trial participant Francis Wicks with Karolien Groenewald
Dr Karolien Groenewald with the first UK trial participant

Funded by the Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech, the trial is part of a global effort with Australian drug discovery company, Syntara. With sites in Australia and the UK, the partnership is focused on looking at the earliest causes and signs of Parkinson’s to uncover whether a potential treatment can reduce inflammation in the brain to hopefully protect brain cells from dying over time and slow down or stop the condition from developing.

The clinical trial involves 40 people with iRBD (idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder), a diagnosed condition where people act out their dreams, sometimes multiple times a night, which is linked with an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. It will trial a potential treatment, known as SNT-4728.

Three quarters of the participants will receive the active medication and the remaining quarter will receive a placebo for 12 weeks. Brain scans will form a major part of the study to see what is happening deep within the brain, offering unprecedented insights into the early causes of Parkinson's and whether the potential treatment offers hope towards a way to delay or stop the onset of the condition.

Francis, who is living with iRBD, a diagnosed condition where people act out their dreams, sometimes multiple times a night, kicked off the start of the UK part of the trial. Alongside this, the study continues to recruit participants at the Australian research site. He shared,

I took part in this research as it felt like time to contribute something back. It is also good to have an understanding of Parkinson’s moving forward, how it progresses, and anything that I could do to slow its progression. The hope is that a cure, or a slowing down of the condition, will be found for the future, and give people hope.

The UK part of the trial is led by Professor Michele Hu with Dr Karolien Groenewald with the first participant recruited from the Discovery Cohort study at the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC). The initiative was established in 2010, actively funded by Parkinson’s UK, to build a wealth of information about Parkinson's, its early signs and symptoms and allows fast recruitment of people to cutting edge clinical trials such as this.

Professor Michele Hu, said:

 ‘We set up the Oxford Discovery RBD cohort around 10 years ago, and I am delighted that we now have a funded trial to offer participants living with this condition. This is going to significantly advance our understanding of RBD and offer real hope that we can prevent or delay onset of future parkinsonism for these individuals and their families.’

Around 153,000 people in the UK are living with Parkinson’s and currently there are no treatments that can slow or stop the condition. Predicting those who might go on to develop the condition or identifying people earlier in the condition's development would allow for greater research into potential treatments that act before too many brain cells have been lost.

There are more than 40 symptoms, from tremor and pain to anxiety. Predicting those who might go on to develop the condition or identifying people earlier in the condition's development would allow for greater research into potential treatments that act before too many brain cells have been lost.

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