NEW YORK: Researchers have published the finding that a specific experimental anti-cancer drug can be used as an effective therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers have now discovered that the drug saracatinib (AZD0530, AstraZeneca), originally developed as an anti-cancer drug, has a therapeutic effect in Alzheimer’s mouse models. Saracatinib targets a protein named Fyn kinase, which was previously shown to have an important role in the brain cell damage induced by amyloid plaques. The team found that saracatinib treatment for four weeks restored memory loss and completely reversed spatial cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s mouse models. The drug was well tolerated by the animals…