Ambroxol as a Disease-modifying Treatment in GBA-PD

Summary

The present multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial will investigate whether the prolonged administration of high-dose oral Ambroxol over 52 weeks is safe, tolerable, able to change Glucocerebrosidase enzyme activity and alpha-synuclein levels in the central nervous system and, ultimately, to reduce the progression of cognitive decline and motor disability in 60 individuals with Parkinson's disease with mutations of the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA1; OMIM 606463). Participants will undergo clinical, biomarker blood and cerebrospinal fluid analysis, neuropsychological, neuroimaging assessment throughout the course of the study.

Timeline

Start

2022-03-09

Primary completion

2024-12-15

Completion

2024-12-20

Publications

• Background Mullin S, Smith L, Lee K, D'Souza G, Woodgate P, Elflein J, Hallqvist J, Toffoli M, Streeter A, Hosking J, Heywood WE, Khengar R, Campbell P, Hehir J, Cable S, Mills K, Zetterberg H, Limousin P, Libri V, Foltynie T, Schapira AHV. Ambroxol for the Treatment of Patients With Parkinson Disease With and Without Glucocerebrosidase Gene Mutations: A Nonrandomized, Noncontrolled Trial. JAMA Neurol. 2020 Apr 1;77(4):427-434. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.4611.
• Background Cilia R, Tunesi S, Marotta G, Cereda E, Siri C, Tesei S, Zecchinelli AL, Canesi M, Mariani CB, Meucci N, Sacilotto G, Zini M, Barichella M, Magnani C, Duga S, Asselta R, Solda G, Seresini A, Seia M, Pezzoli G, Goldwurm S. Survival and dementia in GBA-associated Parkinson's disease: The mutation matters. Ann Neurol. 2016 Nov;80(5):662-673. doi: 10.1002/ana.24777. Epub 2016 Oct 3.
• Background Blandini F, Cilia R, Cerri S, Pezzoli G, Schapira AHV, Mullin S, Lanciego JL. Glucocerebrosidase mutations and synucleinopathies: Toward a model of precision medicine. Mov Disord. 2019 Jan;34(1):9-21. doi: 10.1002/mds.27583. Epub 2018 Dec 27.
• Background McNeill A, Magalhaes J, Shen C, Chau KY, Hughes D, Mehta A, Foltynie T, Cooper JM, Abramov AY, Gegg M, Schapira AH. Ambroxol improves lysosomal biochemistry in glucocerebrosidase mutation-linked Parkinson disease cells. Brain. 2014 May;137(Pt 5):1481-95. doi: 10.1093/brain/awu020. Epub 2014 Feb 25.
• Background Migdalska-Richards A, Ko WKD, Li Q, Bezard E, Schapira AHV. Oral ambroxol increases brain glucocerebrosidase activity in a nonhuman primate. Synapse. 2017 Jul;71(7):e21967. doi: 10.1002/syn.21967. Epub 2017 Mar 17.
• Background Narita A, Shirai K, Itamura S, Matsuda A, Ishihara A, Matsushita K, Fukuda C, Kubota N, Takayama R, Shigematsu H, Hayashi A, Kumada T, Yuge K, Watanabe Y, Kosugi S, Nishida H, Kimura Y, Endo Y, Higaki K, Nanba E, Nishimura Y, Tamasaki A, Togawa M, Saito Y, Maegaki Y, Ohno K, Suzuki Y. Ambroxol chaperone therapy for neuronopathic Gaucher disease: A pilot study. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2016 Feb 2;3(3):200-15. doi: 10.1002/acn3.292. eCollection 2016 Mar.
• Background Silveira CRA, MacKinley J, Coleman K, Li Z, Finger E, Bartha R, Morrow SA, Wells J, Borrie M, Tirona RG, Rupar CA, Zou G, Hegele RA, Mahuran D, MacDonald P, Jenkins ME, Jog M, Pasternak SH. Ambroxol as a novel disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson's disease dementia: protocol for a single-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. BMC Neurol. 2019 Feb 9;19(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12883-019-1252-3.
• Background Winder-Rhodes SE, Evans JR, Ban M, Mason SL, Williams-Gray CH, Foltynie T, Duran R, Mencacci NE, Sawcer SJ, Barker RA. Glucocerebrosidase mutations influence the natural history of Parkinson's disease in a community-based incident cohort. Brain. 2013 Feb;136(Pt 2):392-9. doi: 10.1093/brain/aws318.
• Background Zunke F, Moise AC, Belur NR, Gelyana E, Stojkovska I, Dzaferbegovic H, Toker NJ, Jeon S, Fredriksen K, Mazzulli JR. Reversible Conformational Conversion of alpha-Synuclein into Toxic Assemblies by Glucosylceramide. Neuron. 2018 Jan 3;97(1):92-107.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.12.012. Epub 2017 Dec 28.
• Background Shinotoh H, Tessitore A. Resting-state fMRI sheds light on neural substrates of cognitive decline in Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2014 Nov 25;83(22):2000-1. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001037. Epub 2014 Oct 29. No abstract available.
• Background Kulisevsky J, Fernandez de Bobadilla R, Pagonabarraga J, Martinez-Horta S, Campolongo A, Garcia-Sanchez C, Pascual-Sedano B, Ribosa-Nogue R, Villa-Bonomo C. Measuring functional impact of cognitive impairment: validation of the Parkinson's disease cognitive functional rating scale. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2013 Sep;19(9):812-7. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2013.05.007. Epub 2013 Jun 15.
• Background Parnetti L, Balducci C, Pierguidi L, De Carlo C, Peducci M, D'Amore C, Padiglioni C, Mastrocola S, Persichetti E, Paciotti S, Bellomo G, Tambasco N, Rossi A, Beccari T, Calabresi P. Cerebrospinal fluid beta-glucocerebrosidase activity is reduced in Dementia with Lewy Bodies. Neurobiol Dis. 2009 Jun;34(3):484-6. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2009.03.002. Epub 2009 Mar 20.
• Colucci F, Avenali M, De Micco R, Fusar Poli M, Cerri S, Stanziano M, Bacila A, Cuconato G, Franco V, Franciotta D, Ghezzi C, Gastaldi M, Elia AE, Romito L, Devigili G, Leta V, Garavaglia B, Golfre Andreasi N, Cazzaniga F, Reale C, Galandra C, Germani G, Mitrotti P, Ongari G, Palmieri I, Picascia M, Pichiecchio A, Verri M, Esposito F, Cirillo M, Di Nardo F, Aloisio S, Siciliano M, Prioni S, Amami P, Piacentini S, Bruzzone MG, Grisoli M, Moda F, Eleopra R, Tessitore A, Valente EM, Cilia R. Ambroxol as a disease-modifying treatment to reduce the risk of cognitive impairment in GBA-associated Parkinson's disease: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II trial. The AMBITIOUS study protocol. BMJ Neurol Open. 2023 Nov 24;5(2):e000535. doi: 10.1136/bmjno-2023-000535. eCollection 2023.

Drugs

Indications