A new hope to combat
Dementia?
Findings from a study led at the University of California
revealed a new drug that could be a potential treatment for memory loss caused
by neurodegenerative diseases. This study was performed in collaboration with
Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and was recently published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (February 2016).
Dementia is one of the earliest manifesting symptoms in the
development of Alzheimer’s disease and Schizophrenia, affecting nearly 44.4
million people worldwide. One of the leading causes of death among senior
citizens, dementia global healthcare costs account to roughly USD 818 billion
today.1 Most of the currently approved
medications although provide symptomatic relief, fail to curb the progress of
neurodegeneration. More often than not, drugs in clinical trials are unable to
qualify the stringent regulatory requirements and fall through owing to
multiple organ side effects.2
Apart from understanding the molecular mechanisms contributing
to neurodegeneration, there has been much emphasis on drug development research
in this area. Li et al. have reported
the synthesis of a library of seventy six molecules designed to target an
enzyme called phosphodiesterase (Type 1) aimed to treat cognitive impairment.3 Drugs designed for central
nervous system disorders often face the challenge to penetrate the blood
brain barrier and to reach the target site. Apart from limited loss during
metabolism, most of the synthesized molecules also displayed good brain penetration
capacities. X-ray crystallography technique was employed to study the mechanism
at the molecular level in detail, which will be useful to design next
generation molecules. One of the best performing drugs was taken to preclinical
testing, and interestingly the results indicated its potential to translate its
memory enhancing potential when tested in mice.
Most of the current drug regimens have proved to be little
useful in treating severe symptoms of memory dysfunctions. With an optimal
balance of physicochemical properties and a favourable safety profile in Phase
1 Clinical trials, the drug in question promises to be a suitable exploratory
candidate for treating dementia in advanced stages neuro disorders.
