SRC inhibition as a potential target for Parkinson’s disease psychosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A randomised, balanced, double-blind two-way crossover design study to evaluate the effects of SRC kinase inhibitor, Saracatinib, on brain activity associated with visual processing in patients with Parkinson’s disease Psychosis
IRAS ID
247303
Contact name
Mitul Mehta
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Parkinson’s disease is generally thought of as a disease that involves movement, the so-called motor symptoms such as slowness of movement, tremor, and stiffness. However, most people develop other problems related to Parkinson's Disease, collectively known as non-motor symptoms. 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). This symptom, part of a condition referred to as Parkinson’s disease (PD) psychosis, can be distressing and have a serious impact on quality of life. 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 been shown to reduce the intensity of the psychedelic effect induced by psilocybin (a naturally occurring psychedelic found in psilocybe mushrooms) and reduce social cognition and brain changes in healthy volunteers. We propose to test the effects of 14 days of dosing with Saracatinib or placebo (dummy drug) in 30 patients with PD psychosis. This study will be carried out at the Centre for neuroimaging sciences (CNS), King’s College London, Denmark Hill. The participants will be asked to come to the CNS for 5 visits over the course of 2 months where they will have physical and neurological exams, blood and urine samples, cognitive assessments and interviews, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and electroencephalogram (EEG) scans. The end of the study will be defined as the last patient contact (after completion of 5 visits and a follow up telephone call).
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/2144
Date of REC Opinion
1 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion