SRC Inhibition as a Potential Target for Parkinson's Disease Psychosis
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2021-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Parkinson's disease is often characterised by movement symptoms such as rigidity and
bradykinesia, however, there are a number of non-motor symptoms that can have a significant
impact on quality of life. One of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease
is visual hallucinations (where someone sees things that don't exist outside their mind). .
Recent findings led to the approval of a drug called Pimavanserin as a treatment for PD
psychosis in the USA. Based on other recent studies, we believe that Saracatinib, a drug that
interacts within the same system as Pimavanserin, is a potential treatment for PD psychosis.
Saracatinib has shown to reduce the intensity of the psychedelic effect induced by psilocybin
(a naturally occurring psychedelic found in psilocybe mushrooms) and attenuate social
cognition and brain changes in healthy volunteers. The aim of this study is to test the
effects of 14 days dosing of saracatinib or placebo on 30 volunteers with PD psychosis. We
aim to to use neuroimaging combined with psychopharmacology to provide evidence that a
putative new treatment approach can modulate abnormal visual cortex activation in patients
with PD psychosis. If positive, this proof of mechanism study would provide a strong platform
to pursue symptom modification studies with Saracatinib.