A recent SciTechDaily article discussed a drug repositioning strategy that aims to combat Alzheimer’s disease. A team of researchers at Osaka City University created a combination of rifampicin and resveratrol that showed promising results in mouse models. It is believed that dementia is caused by the accumulation of specific proteins in the brain that form oligomers.
Scientists at the university’s school of medicine had previously shown that rifampicin removes oligomers from the brain to improve cognitive function, but took a toll on the subjects’ livers. For the new study, researchers combined rifampicin with resveratrol, a naturally occurring antioxidant found in plants, to prevent the side effects to the liver. They found that the combination significantly improved cognitive function, curbed the accumulation of oligomers, and restored proteins that facilitate synapses without the hepatic damage. Medilabo RFP, a venture company started at the team’s lab, is now developing a combination nasal spray drug and preparing for global clinical trials.
