Today, September 21th, is World Alzheimer’s Day!
We recently mentioned World Alzheimer's Month, including World Alzheimer's Day (Previous article), and today we would like to share SMC's thoughts on the development of a medicine for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
There are currently five FDA-approved drugs for Alzheimer's disease (Donepezil, Rivastigmine, Galantamine, Memantine, and Aducanumab).
These treatments can be divided into two categories: those that supplement neuronal function and those that remove amyloid-β from the brain, which is believed to be the cause of Alzheimer's disease.
Currently, these five medicines do not cure Alzheimer's disease radically, but only delay its onset.
Although Alzheimer's disease is thought to be caused by excessive accumulation of amyloid-β in the brain, it is a complex disease in which various phenomena occur in the brain.
Therefore, rather than only focusing on a single cause or symptom, a combination of several therapeutic agents or a combination of several therapeutic agents that exert a combined action may be the key to treatment.
Alzheimer's disease is thought to be caused by the excessive production and accumulation of amyloid-β, which disrupts homeostasis in the brain, activating immune cells and causing chronic inflammation in the brain (Reference).
This brain inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease before and during its onset.
Furthermore, since it has been reported that the brain inflammation is involved in the production of amyloid-β (Reference), the brain inflammation may also be one of the causes of Alzheimer's disease.
Therefore, in addition to (1) elimination or inhibition of amyloid-β and (2) activation and protection of nerves, (3) suppression and appropriate control of the brain inflammation may be important in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
SMC can offer pre-clinical drug efficacy studies using the icv-STZ model, which is a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease that exhibits amyloid-β-independent the brain inflammation.
If you are interested in our services or the icv-STZ model, please feel free to contact us.
■Alzheimer's Disease International; ADI
■Reference
Kinney et al., Alzheimers Dement (NY). 2018.
■About the icv-STZ model.