As reported in Nature Aging, researchers identified bumetanide as a potential treatment for APOE4-related AD using a computational drug-repurposing approach.
In mouse models of APOE4-driven AD, treatment with bumetanide "completely rescued the learning and memory deficits and the alterations in brain activity that may underlie these cognitive deficits," Dr. Yadong Huang of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of California, San Francisco, a senior author on the paper, told Reuters Health by phone.
Bumetanide also reversed gene-expression changes associated with AD in human neurons derived from skin cells of Alzheimer's patients carrying the APOE4 gene.
Furthermore, in evaluating data from two electronic health record databases, the researchers found a significantly lower prevalence of AD in people older than age 65 years taking bumetanide, "suggesting that the drug may help protect against Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Huang told Reuters Health.
"Our study highlights the power of combining computational drug repurposing with precision medicine, as well as the usefulness of leveraging existing sets of experimental and real-world data for rapid preliminary validation," he added in a news release. "This may be a really efficient way to find better drugs for Alzheimer's and other complicated age-related diseases."
Bumetanide is a generic drug with a well-established safety record, "so it could reach patients much faster than typical drug development takes," Dr. Huang said in the release.
Based on all the findings, the researchers are now working with multiple medical centers to move bumetanide toward human clinical trials for AD.
The study had no commercial funding.
SOURCE: https://go.nature.com/3iPX48z Nature Aging, online October 11, 2021.
By Megan Brooks
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