An antiretroviral drug originally developed to treat HIV appears capable of removing the noxious protein buildup linked to Huntington’s disease and a form of dementia, boosting prospects for repurposing it as a treatment for neurodegenerative conditions.
The accumulation of these proteins leads to cognitive decline, and mouse studies showed that the drug maraviroc restores the brain’s ability to clear them.
Maraviroc, marketed as Selzentry and Celsentri, demonstrated slowing of neural cell death and memory loss in engineered mice with dementia.
While maraviroc may not cure dementia or Huntington’s, identifying pathways to neurodegeneration provides avenues for intervention. “Maraviroc doesn’t seem miraculous, but it highlights possibilities for progress,” said David Rubinstein, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University’s UK Dementia Research Institute, who led the work.
“During maraviroc’s development for HIV, other candidates failed due to ineffectiveness against the virus. One proven safe and effective in humans could thwart neurodegeneration.” The findings seem promising.
Even more intriguing, a team this week found evidence that sleep aids reduce toxic buildup linked to Alzheimer’s in humans. With two new neurodegenerative nodes identified, scientists have more pathways to explore.
Cambridge researchers engineered Huntington’s, caused by misfolded Huntingtin protein clumps, and tauopathy, associated with tau accumulation. Using two mouse strains, they mimicked these diseases and Alzheimer’s, linked to amyloid-beta and tau buildup.
In these disorders, toxic clumping destroys healthy brain cells, causing memory loss, confusion, mood swings, and death. Maraviroc provides hope by clearing the brain’s toxic waste. With multiple repurposed drugs and new pathways revealed, defeating dementia may be within reach.
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