Blood pressure drug shows promise for treating Parkinson's and dementia in animal study – ScienceDaily

A common feature of these diseases – collectively known as neurodegenerative diseases – is the build-up of misfolded proteins. These proteins, such as Huntington's Huntington's disease and tau in some dementias, form 'aggregates' that can cause irreversible damage to nerve cells in the brain.

In healthy individuals, the body uses a mechanism to prevent the build-up of such toxic materials. This mechanism is known as autophagy, or 'self-eating', and involves' Pac-Man'-like cells eating and breaking down the materials. However, in neurodegenerative diseases this mechanism is impaired and unable to clear the proteins in the brain.

As the global population ages, an increasing number of people are diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases, making the search for effective drugs more urgently. However, there are currently no drugs that can induce autophagy effectively in patients.

In addition to searching for new drugs, the scientists often look at re-purpose existing drugs. These have the advantage that they have already been shown to be safe for use in humans. If they can be shown to be effective against the target diseases, then the journey is much faster.

In a study published today in the journal Nature CommunicationsThe scientists at the UK Dementia Research Institute and the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research at the University of Cambridge have shown that felodipine, a hypertension drug, may be a candidate for re-purposing.

Epidemiological studies have already been reported to have a potential link between the drug and the risk of Parkinson's disease, but it has been shown that it can be induced to induce autophagy in several neurodegenerative conditions.

A team led by Professor David Rubinsztein used the notion of mutations that cause Huntington 's disease or a form of Parkinson' s disease, and zebrafish that model a form of dementia.

Mice are a useful model for studying human disease and their reproductive health. Their biology and physiology have a number of significant features in common with those of humans, including similar nervous systems.

Felodipine was effective at reducing the aggregates in the mice with Huntington's and Parkinson's disease mutations and in the zebrafish dementia model. The treated animals also showed fewer signs of diseases.

Studies in mice often used to be safe and effective. Professor Rubinsztein and colleagues showed in the Parkinson's that it is possible to show beneficial effects even at concentrations similar to those tolerated by humans. They did so by controlling the concentrations using a small pump under the mouse's skin.

"This is the first time we are aware of a drug that has been approved by the drug industry." says Professor Rubinsztein. "As a result, the drug was able to slow down the progression of these potentially devastating conditions and we believe it should be trialled in patients."

"This is only the first stage, though, the drug will need to be tested in the future, but we would like to see it. cautiously optimistic. "

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