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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2007;297:1764.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is launching a large phase 3 clinical trial to determine whether the nutritional supplement creatine can slow the progression of Parkinson disease.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will enroll 1720 individuals with early-stage Parkinson disease at 51 medical centers in North America. Patients participating in the trial will be randomly assigned to receive either creatine or placebo for 5 to 7 years.

The nutritional supplement creatine is under study as a potential treatment for Parkinson disease. Molecule data source: DrugBank Accession No. NUTR00022.

Some studies suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage may contribute to the progression of Parkinson disease. Because creatine improves mitochondrial function and has antioxidant properties, some scientists have proposed it as a potential treatment for Parkinson disease; early clinical trials have had some promising results (NINDS NET-PD Investigators. Neurology. 2006;66:664-671; Bender A et al. . . . [Full Text of this Article]