Category Archives: Drugs

Alzheimer’s Vaccine…For Mice, Monkeys, and Rabbits

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It’s of course widely accepted that potential drugs for human use must first successfully pass through animal testing. Unfortunately, that in no way guarantees that the candidate drug will be efficacious for the human animal. And this has be depressingly common for drugs directed at Alzheimer’s. Quite a few have done well when tested in the mice model, yet have fallen flat during human testing. (The disappointment of the researchers who have spent years of hard, hopeful work must be brutal.)

Last week a paper was published describing another possible vaccine against Alzheimer’s. It is the latest in about 10 years of work, in which the idea has been tested previously in monkeys and rabbits, and now reports the positive outcomes in mice. The researchers hope that human trials might begin within 3-5 years. Below are links to an institutional press release about the work, to a media article about the work, and to the research paper itself.

DNA Vaccine Reduces Both Toxic Proteins Linked to Alzheimer’s

DNA vaccine reduces both toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer’s

Research article:
Active full-length DNA Aβ42 immunization in 3xTg-AD mice reduces not only amyloid deposition but also tau pathology

All three links have been added to Alzheimers > Treatment > Drugs.

Category: Alzheimers/Dementia, Drugs, Treatment

Diabetes Drug Reverses Alzheimers — In Mice

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It is fairly well established that diabetes and high blood sugar are serious risk factors for Alzheimers (see Alzheimer’s Linked To Sugar & Diabetes and also: Diabetes and Alzheimer’s linked, Alzheimer’s disease
and diabetes, and research review: Type 2 Diabetes as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease: The Confounders, Interactions, and Neuropathology Associated With This Relationship)

So it would seem to be great news that the use of an established drug for treating human diabetes might also directly treat Alzheimer’s or at least the symptoms thereof in mice models. However this snarky, but all-too-true, comment from Hacker News summarizes the situation:

This would be great news if we [had] not cured mice many times before of Alzheimer’s. Unfortunatly all the drugs that have worked in mice failed when tested in humans.

Of course, this might be the magic time. Since the drug is already approved for human use, we’ll find out much sooner whether it works for Alzheimer’s. Here are four media articles about the work (all with similar titles):

A Diabetes Drug Has ‘Significantly Reversed Memory Loss’ in Mice With Alzheimer’s
Diabetes drug ‘significantly reverses memory loss’ in mice with Alzheimer’s
Diabetes drug ‘significantly reverses memory loss’ in mice with Alzheimer’s
Diabetes drug “significantly reverses memory loss” in mice with Alzheimer’s
And here is the original research article:
Neuroprotective effects of a triple GLP-1/GIP/glucagon receptor agonist in the APP/PS1 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

The three links in the first paragraph have been added to Risk Factors. The links regarding the diabetes drug have been added to Treatment > Drugs.

Category: Alzheimers/Dementia, Drugs, Risk Factors

Another Promising Drug: Montelukast

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Do you have asthma or hay fever? Do you take the generic drug montelukast (info: m1 m2 m3) for it? You could be taking a drug which might turn out to treat Alzheimer’s.

Montelukast acts to reduce inflammation in the lungs, and this led to the idea that it might reduce brain inflammation. This led to a successful study in rats, as reported below in four media articles, and the original research article.
Old rat brains rejuvenated and new neurons grown by asthma drug
Asthma drug could rejuvenate ageing brains, study suggests
Dementia cure? Scientists find common asthma drug REJUVENATES ageing brains
Asthma drug Singulair may be a cure for Alzheimer’s, claims study

Original rat brains research article:
Structural and functional rejuvenation of the aged brain by an approved anti-asthmatic drug

Because montelukast has long been approved for human use (for asthma), this led quickly to a successful Phase 1 clinical trial:
…Successful Clinical Study for Montelukast for the Treatment of Degenerative Diseases of the Brain

And this has been followed by the recent start of a Phase 2A clinical trial:
…Initiates Phase 2A Montelukast Versafilm™ Clinical Trial in Alzheimer’s Patients

The outcome of the Phase 2A will give the first indications of whether montelukast actually will have effects on human brains. Many drugs have previously appeared promising in rat studies, but did not turn out to have beneficial effects for humans, and never made it to human use. Even those approved for humans don’t have much beneficial effect, if any: The hard truth about Alzheimer’s drugs.

All the links here have been added to Alzheimers > Treatment > Drugs.

Category: Drugs

Alzheimer’s Mice Recovering

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A new drug, originally developed as a treatment for schizophrenia, appears to restore memories and neural connections in mice with models of Alzheimer’s disease, erasing evidence of Alzheimer’s synapse damage and memory loss. Of course, it’s a long way from repairing mouse models of Alzheimer’s to successfully handling human Alzheimer’s patients. But it’s a hopeful beginning.

Below is a link to an article about the study, as well as a link to the study itself:

Drug Restores Cells and Memories in Alzheimer’s: Mouse Study

Published research:
Silent Allosteric Modulation of mGluR5 Maintains Glutamate Signaling while Rescuing Alzheimer’s Mouse Phenotypes

Both links have been added to Alzheimers > Drugs

Category: Announcements, Drugs

Some Early Stage Drug Research

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Drug research relating to dementia and Alzheimer’s is ongoing. Below is a collection of relatively recent reports. All of the links have been added to Alzheimers > Treatment > Drugs

trazodone and dibenzoylmethane

From the articles:
A team of scientists who a few years ago identified a major pathway that leads to brain cell death in mice, have now found two drugs that block the pathway and prevent neurodegeneration. The drugs caused minimal side effects in the mice and one is already licensed for use in humans, so is ready for clinical trials.

Experts excited by brain ‘wonder-drug’
Scientists discover two repurposed drugs that arrest neurodegeneration in mice
Published research:
Repurposed drugs targeting eIF2α-P-mediated translational repression prevent neurodegeneration in mice

Methylene blue

Drug Could Improve Short-term Memory, Study Says [06/28/2016]
Methylene Blue Shows Promise for Improving Short-Term Memory [June 28, 2016]
Published research:
Multimodal Randomized Functional MR Imaging of the Effects of Methylene Blue in the Human Brain [November 2016]

LMTX

Testing of new Alzheimer’s drug disappoints, but it’s not all bad news [July 27, 2016]
TauRx Alzheimer’s Drug LMTX Fails in Large Study Although Some Benefit Seen [July 27, 2016]

mefenamic acid

This Common Period Pain Medication Reverses Alzheimer’s Symptoms in Mice [16 Aug 2016]
Treatment option for Alzheimer’s disease possible [11 Aug 2016]
Alzheimer’s Disease: Period Pain Drug Cures Symptoms In Mice, New Research Shows [08/13/16]
Research publication:
Fenamate NSAIDs inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome and protect against Alzheimer’s disease in rodent models [11 August 2016]

Category: Announcements, Drugs

Anti-Aging Effects From An Anti-Alzheimer’s Drug

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So far it’s only in mice, but a promising drug from a Salk Institute laboratory has shown the ability to not only reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s and memory loss, but to improve memory and other tests for cognition. In addition, older mice receiving the drug also displayed more robust motor movement, and based on gene expression monitoring, showed physiological aspects more similar to young mice, including increased energy metabolism, reduced brain inflammation and reduced levels of oxidized fatty acids in the brain. The laboratory hopes to being human trials next year.

Links to articles about the work, as well as the published study, have been posted in both Aging and Alzheimers > Treatment > Drugs:

Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Anti-Aging Effects

Experimental drug targeting Alzheimer’s disease shows anti-aging effects

Published study:
A comprehensive multiomics approach toward understanding the relationship between aging and dementia

Category: Aging, Announcements, Drugs

More on Drugs for Alzheimers

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We’ve added four more links reporting on possible drugs relating to Alzheimers, in:

Alzheimers > Treatment > Drugs

Here are the new links:

Roche steps up work on two experimental Alzheimer’s drugs      …crenezumab would now move into late-stage Phase III …and … fresh clinical trials using higher doses of gantenerumab…

Blood pressure medication may lower Alzheimer’s risk     Researchers believe that anti-hypertensive drugs used to treat high blood pressure may be lowering patients’ risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease

Reduced Alzheimer’s risk linked to medicine for high blood pressure     …it’s possible that medications used to treat high blood pressure also lowers the risk for Alzheimer’s…

UPDATED: Eli Lilly offers evidence of twice-failed solanezumab’s impact on Alzheimer’s     Eli Lilly offered long-term evidence to show that its amyloid-busting drug solanezumab has a distinct impact on Alzheimer’s disease among early-stage patients…

Category: Announcements, Drugs