Can lipid-lowering drugs and vitamins also treat Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly.

Recently, a study published in Science Signaling, a sub-Journal of "Science", shows that the combination of two "old drugs" that have been on the market for decades not only significantly reduces the beta amyloid associated with Alzheimer's disease in animal models.

In this study, the two drugs used by researchers at Rush University Medical Center were gemfibrozil (a common lipid-lowering drug) and retinoic acid (a vitamin A).

The team’s previous research has shown that astrocytes may play a role in promoting the deposition of beta amyloid in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, thereby accelerating the progression of the disease

In an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers also found that administering these two drugs to mice can significantly reduce the deposition of beta amyloid in the mouse brain, and the cognitive function of the mice is taking two drugs.

So how do these two drugs work? Further research found that gemfibrozil and retinoic acid can activate a receptor protein called PPARα in cells.

Whether this combination therapy can play the same role in humans needs to be verified by human clinical trials

Recently, the team of Professor Yadong Huang from the Gladstone Institutes in the United States also discovered that an “old drug” bumetanide that has been on the market for nearly 40 years has not only alleviated cognitive and learning deficits in animal experiments, but also based on real-world data.

Reference materials:

[1] Has a treatment for Alzheimer's been sitting on pharmacy shelves for decades? Scientists have two possible candidates.

[2] Aβ Clearance—The Untapped Potential of Astrocytes? Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https:// Raha et al.