ArticleBMJ open2020
Azathioprine immunosuppression and disease modification in Parkinson's disease (AZA-PD): a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled phase II trial protocol.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inflammatory markers and depression in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Pooled it
- Repurposing Anticancer Drugs in Parkinson's Treatment: Molecular Pathways Driving Neuroprotection and Therapeutic Advancement.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Immune-mediated excitotoxicity in brain disorders.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- Gaps in the Parkinson's disease therapeutic clinical pipeline: A focus on approaches targeting disease pathobiology.Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2026Review
- Spermidine Suppresses Peripheral Inflammation and Alleviates Non-Motor Symptoms in the 6-OHDA-Induced Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Constipation Is Linked to Neuroinflammation in Early Parkinson's Disease.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2026Article
- Identifying and predicting fast versus slow Parkinson's disease motor progressors using clinical and digital data.BMJ neurology open · 2026Article
- Beyond the gut: decoding the gut-immune-brain axis in health and disease.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2025Review
- Neuroprotection in Parkinson Disease.Neurology and therapy · 2025Review
- A network-based systems genetics framework identifies pathobiology and drug repurposing in Parkinson's disease.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2025Article
- The immune system in Parkinson's disease: what we know so far.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2024Review
- Lysosomal storage, impaired autophagy and innate immunity in Gaucher and Parkinson's diseases: insights for drug discovery.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Review
- Exploring Parkinson's Disease-Associated Depression: Role of Inflammation on the Noradrenergic and Serotonergic Pathways.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Glial cells improve Parkinson's disease by modulating neuronal function and regulating neuronal ferroptosis.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2024Review
- Brain FADE syndrome: the final common pathway of chronic inflammation in neurological disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Clinical Trial Highlights: Anti-Inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Agents.Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2024Review
- Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's Disease: An Updated Overview Focusing on Emerging Pharmaceutical Treatment Approaches.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Parkinson's disease therapy: what lies ahead?Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2023Review
- Neuropathology of incidental Lewy body & prodromal Parkinson's disease.Molecular neurodegeneration · 2023Review
- Plasma extracellular vesicle tau, β-amyloid, and α-synuclein and the progression of Parkinson's disease: a follow-up study.Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThe immune system is implicated in the aetiology and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Inflammation and immune activation occur both in the brain and in the periphery, and a proinflammatory cytokine profile is associated with more rapid clinical progression. Furthermore, the risk of developing PD is related to genetic variation in immune-related genes and reduced by the use of immunosuppressant medication. We are therefore conducting a 'proof of concept' trial of azathioprine, an immunosuppressant medication, to investigate whether suppressing the peripheral immune system has a disease-modifying effect in PD. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: AZA-PD is a phase II randomised placebo-controlled double-blind trial in early PD. Sixty participants, with clinical markers indicating an elevated risk of disease progression and no inflammatory or immune comorbidity, will be treated (azathioprine:placebo, 1:1) for 12 months, with a further 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome is the change in the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale gait/axial score in the OFF state over the 12-month treatment period. Exploratory outcomes include additional measures of motor and cognitive function, non-motor symptoms and quality of life. In addition, peripheral and central immune markers will be investigated through analysis of blood, cerebrospinal fluid and PK-11195 positron emission tomography imaging. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by the London-Westminster research ethics committee (reference 19/LO/1705) and has been accepted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for a clinical trials authorisation (reference CTA 12854/0248/001-0001). In addition, approval has been granted from the Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee. The results of this trial will be disseminated through publication in scientific journals and presentation at national and international conferences, and a lay summary will be available on our website. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: ISRCTN14616801 and EudraCT- 2018-003089-14.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.