Previously Rejected Drug May Reduce Neurodegenerative Proteins in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s

According to research published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, the second of two studies on the drug latrepirdine offer new possibilities for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, sleep disorders and other neurodegenerative conditions. An international team led by scientists at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine has discovered that latrepiridine, known commercially as Dimebon, reduced the level of at least two neurodegeneration-related proteins in mice.

Latrepirdine originally was sold as an antihistamine in Russia, following its approved use there in 1983. In the ‘90s, the compound appeared effective in treating some of the earliest animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. In a high-profile Phase II clinical trial in the same country, overseen by a panel of top U.S. clinical trial experts — including Mount Sinai’s Mary Sano, PhD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center — latrepirdine showed significant and sustained improvement in cognitive behavior in Alzheimer’s patients, with minimal side effects. But when the drug was tested in a Phase III trial in the U.S., it did not show any improvement in patients with the disease, causing sponsors to halt further clinical study. For more information, click here to read the full release.