An anti-inflammatory drug might provide a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, British researchers have reported.
So far the drug, mefenamic acid, has been tested on laboratory mice.
Researchers at Manchester University were searching for a drug to tackle inflammation linked to the disease.
Yesterday they reported that mefenamic acid reversed memory loss and brain inflammation in the animals.
The findings are reported in Nature Communications.
The research involved 20 transgenic animals. Mefenamic acid is used to treat menstrual pain – but has potentially serious side effects.
Researcher Dr David Brough said he was "very excited" by the finding.
He said: “There is experimental evidence now to strongly suggest that inflammation in the brain makes Alzheimer’s disease worse.
“Our research shows for the first time that mefenamic acid, a simple Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug can target an important inflammatory pathway called the NLRP3 inflammasome, which damages brain cells.”
He added: “Until now, no drug has been available to target this pathway, so we are very excited by this result.
“However, much more work needs to be done until we can say with certainty that it will tackle the disease in humans as mouse models don’t always faithfully replicate the human disease.
“Because this drug is already available and the toxicity and pharmacokinetics of the drug is known, the time for it to reach patients should, in theory, be shorter than if we were developing completely new drugs.
“We are now preparing applications to perform early phase II trials to determine a proof-of-concept that the molecules have an effect on neuroinflammation in humans.”
Dr Doug Brown, from the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “These promising lab results identify a class of existing drugs that have potential to treat Alzheimer’s disease by blocking a particular part of the immune response.
"However, these drugs are not without side effects and should not be taken for Alzheimer’s disease at this stage – studies in people are needed first.”
Fenamate NSAIDs inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome and 2 protect against Alzheimer’s disease in rodent models Nature Communications 11 August 2016
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