Study: Arthritis Drugs May Benefit Parkinson's Patients

The common arthritis drugs Celebrex and Vioxx may one day benefit patients with Parkinson's disease by preventing the death of neurons, according to a study conducted by Columbia University neurologists.

Celebrex and Vioxx are COX-2 inhibitors. Although COX-2 enzymes are more familiar in arthritis, they produce inflammation in all damaged tissues including the brain. Studies have already shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

To see if COX-2 plays a role in Parkinson's disease, the researchers examined the brains of deceased Parkinson's patients and found higher levels of COX-2 in the dopamine neurons of patients than in the neurons of brains without the disease. Dopamine neurons suffer the most damage from Parkinson's disease.

The researchers then tested the importance of COX-2 in mice that have a disease similar to Parkinson's. COX-2 was found to play an instrumental role in the death of neurons. When the COX-2 enzyme was removed from the mice, or inhibited with a COX-2 inhibitor, more dopamine neurons were able to survive.

Rofecoxib, the COX-2 inhibitor, doubled the number of surviving neurons as 88 percent survived with the drug, while only 41 percent survived without the drug.

"Regardless of how COX-2 works in Parkinson's disease, the benefit we see in animal models with COX-2 inhibitors suggests the drugs could be useful in slowing the disease's progression in patients," said Dr. Serge Przedborski, of the Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior. "The drugs are safe and they get into the brain reasonably well."

Other sources: Columbia University