“A drug commonly used to treat diabetes could help those living with Parkinson’s disease,” The Guardian reports. A small study suggests a drug called exenatide may have a modest beneficial effect on motor (movement) symptoms in people with Parkinson’s diaease.

Exenatide is known as a GLP-1 agonist, used to help regulate blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. Previous, early-stage research also suggests it may help protect nerves against damage, which is the root cause of Parkinson’s.

The study looked at changes to people’s movement (“motor”) ability when given either an injection of exenatide or a placebo injection. The people in the study had their motor ability assessed by a well-validated scoring tool before taking the drug, at various points during the trial, and 12 weeks after they were last treated.

At the final measuring point, people who had received exenatide had shown a small improvement in their motor scores, while people in the placebo group had got worse. However, the difference between those changes was modest. People receiving exenatide did not report any significant improvement in quality of life.

Nonetheless, it is an interesting finding warranting further research into the longer-term effects of giving exenatide to people with Parkinson’s disease.

It could be the case that a repurposed GLP-1 agonist specifically designed to treat Parkinson’s would provide more benefit.