Parkinson’s treatment with Acetyl-DL-Leucine

Posted by ironmanhutch @ironmanhutch, Sep 9 5:42am

Does anyone have experience with the dietary supplement Acetyl-DL-Leucine? Based on a study of two patients primarily focusing on reducing REM aggressive sleep disorder I procured tablets online and after taking 5 g per day for two months. I noticed positive results for several symptoms I have now. This product is not Tanganil and is no longer available and the provider stated that they are no longer authorized to sell because a third-party company in the USA has claimed rights to sell so after researching availability elsewhere, I was able to obtain from a company in Belgium for now.
Any feedback is appreciated and I am glad to provide more information on this issue.
Respectfully,

Ironmanhutch

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Sep 9 3:22pm

Welcome, @ironmanhutch. I believe you are referring to these 2 case reports:
- A sensational observation: A modified amino acid stops the onset of Parkinson’s disease in its early stage https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/prfolder-en/news/a-sensational-observation-a-modified-amino-acid-stops-the-onset-of-parkinsons-disease-in-its-early-stage
Original study data
- Acetyl-DL-leucine in two individuals with REM sleep behavior disorder improves symptoms, reverses loss of striatal dopamine-transporter binding and stabilizes pathological metabolic brain pattern—case reports https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51502-7

While your experience and the potential of the 2 case reports sound promising, other studies have found little effect in other neurological settings like this one:

- Safety and Efficacy of Acetyl-DL-Leucine in Certain Types of Cerebellar Ataxia https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787099

It's important to underline this excerpt:
"If large clinical trials confirm what has been observed here in two patients, namely that acetyl-DL-leucine can halt the onset of Parkinson’s disease, this discovery will be a major milestone in the history of medicine. “However, there is still a long way to go and, despite the euphoria, we must remain cautious and set up controlled studies that will provide evidence as quickly as possible,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Peter Berlit, Secretary General of the German Neurological Sociey."

It sounds like further study is ongoing and still required after the initial observations of the 2 case reports.

Keep in mind when searching for the modified amino acid acetyl-DL-leucine that supplements are not regulated and may contain various amount of active ingredients.