Antidepressant May Slow Alzheimer’s Disease

According to new research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania, a commonly prescribed antidepressant can reduce production of amyloid beta, the main ingredient in Alzheimer’s brain plaques. Their findings recently published in Science Translational Medicine, the scientists found that the antidepressant citalopram stopped the growth of plaques in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. And in young adults who were cognitively healthy, a single dose of the antidepressant lowered by 37 percent the production of amyloid beta. Although the findings are encouraging, the researchers caution that it would be premature to prescribe antidepressants solely to slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease. “Antidepressants appear to be significantly reducing amyloid beta production, and that’s exciting,” said senior author John Cirrito, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at Washington University. “Until we can more definitively prove that these drugs help slow or stop Alzheimer’s in humans, the risks aren’t worth it. There is still much more work to do.” To learn more about this study, click here.