Scientists from the University of Cambridge have found that a drug that treats glaucoma (high intraocular pressure) may protect against the buildup of toxic proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Animal research results published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
The study authors analyzed more than 1,400 medicinal compounds in zebrafish. The animals were genetically modified to mimic tauopathies, which are diseases associated with the buildup of plaques (aggregates) of tau proteins in the brain. This group of different forms of dementia includes Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists have found that drugs from the group of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors can protect against the accumulation of tau protein aggregates. They also alleviated symptoms of the disease in zebrafish and mice. One of the drugs in this group is the glaucoma drug methazolamide.
These drugs block the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which regulates the acid level in the cell. As a result, lysosomes (“cellular waste incinerators”) move to the cell surface, where they fuse with the cell membrane and “spit out” the tau.
The study was conducted on zebrafish because they can mature quickly. The scientists’ findings have not yet been tested in more complex animal and human studies.
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