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Felodipine, a drug prescribed to treat high blood pressure, has shown promise against Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and forms of dementia in studies in mice and mice. zebrafish at the University of Cambridge.
In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists showed mice that felodipine could be reused.
A common feature of neurodegenerative diseases is the formation of misfolded proteins.
These proteins, such as huntingtin in Huntington's disease and tau in some dementias, form "aggregates" that can cause irreversible damage to nerve cells in the brain.
A team led by Professor David Rubinsztein used genetically modified mice to express mutations causing Huntington's disease or a form of Parkinson's disease, and zebrafish that model a form of dementia.
Felodipine has been shown to be effective in reducing "aggregation" of aggregates in mice with Huntington mutations and Parkinson's disease and in the zebrafish dementia model.
Treated animals also had fewer signs of disease.
"It's the first time we realize that one study has shown that an approved drug can slow down the formation of harmful proteins in the brains of mice at doses aimed at mimicking the concentrations of this medicine in humans, "said Professor Rubinsztein.
The antihypertensive drug has been able to slow the progression of these potentially devastating conditions and "we think it should be tested in patients," he added.
In healthy individuals, the body uses a mechanism to prevent the accumulation of these toxic substances.
This mechanism is known as autophagy, or "self-consumption," and involves cells that eat and break down materials.
"This is only the first step, however.The drug will need to be tested on patients to see if it has the same effects in humans as in the mouse." We must be cautious, but I would like to say that we can be cautiously optimistic, "said Professor Rubinsztein.
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