Two older drugs might be used to fight dementia
Depression and cancer drugs might be useful in fighting with neurodegenerative diseases, according to a new study.
Neurodegenerative diseases cause progressive damage to the brain’s functions. They include Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and CJD (also known as “Mad Cow Disease”).
For the study, mice were infected with diseases that mimicked neurodegenerative diseases. Specifically, they were infected with a prion disease (which can cause CJD), an infectious disease, or a type of dementia. An object recognition test was then performed on the mice, to see if mice remembered objects they had already seen. Researchers also looked for signs of brain damage and brain shrinkage.
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The mice were then treated with two drugs: trazodone hydrochloride (used to treat depression and anxiety) and dibenzoylmethane (a drug that could be useful for prostate and bowel cancer). The drugs restored memory, reduced signs of neurodegeneration and were safe for the mice in the doses they received, according to NHS.
The effectiveness of the early-stage research might lead to trials in humans to see if the use of the drugs remains safe and effective.
Trazodone has already been licensed for use in older adults, so experts already have a good understanding of how safe it is. This also means that the trials for trazodone might start right away. However, if proven effective, it could take a long time for the drug to come to market for this purpose.
The study was made by researchers from the University of Cambridge, University of Nottingham and the Medical Research Centre Toxicology Unit in Leicester, UK and funded by the Medical Research Council in the UK and a grant from the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.
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