Possible discovery in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease

He Alzheimer’s disease This is one of the most serious diseases that relatives of older people may face, who consider it your loved one begins to forget your names and he cannot remember who those who were near him were. A brain disease that gradually destroys your memory and ability to think.

In recent decades, attempts have been made to find medications and treatments that try to stop this diseasealthough so far the attempts have been in vain. But science does not stop trying and now there is a new medicine against schizophrenia. could be used to fight Alzheimer’s disease. However, this would not be the first time this type of drug has been used to stop the progression of this cognitive disease.

In September 2011, the drug against schizophrenia received recognition. US Regulatory Authorization for Use. Since then, several drugs have been in various stages of development for use against Alzheimer’s disease. Now a new drug treats the disease in a different way: instead of reducing the activity of dopamine, this new drug (KarXT) targets muscarinic receptorsaccording to the magazine Nature.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen in my career there is so much excitement and enthusiasm about a new approach in psychiatry“says Geoffrey Conn, a pharmacologist at Walderbilt University. And after receiving approval from the US authorities, interest in this type of drug resumed.

Changing Focus

KarXT has xanomelinedeveloped in the 90s as one of its main active components. Its use has shown that it can reduce psychotic symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s disease. However, in a clinical study, some participants Stopped taking it due to side effects. for example, vomiting or nausea. Thus, the drug was “set aside.”

Years later (2009), Karuna Therapeutics combined this active ingredient with trospium, responsible for blocking muscarinic receptors and that it cannot reach the brain. At the same time they avoid unwanted side effects

. In clinical trials of this drug, people experienced cognitive and antipsychotic effects with milder side effects.

In particular, xanomeline acts on two of five muscarinic receptors: M1 (associated with cognitive abilities) and M4 (associated with antipsychotic effects). Many drugs are currently being studied for schizophrenia. they target only one of the recipientsin a strategy that experts say could lead to more benefits and fewer side effects, explains Andrew Tobin, neuroscientist at the University of Glasgow.

Because of the role that M1 receptors play in cognition, many of the drugs currently being tested to reduce cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease target them. According to Tobin, there is hope that These muscarinic drugs slow the progression of the disease..

Now, despite the high expectations associated with this drug KarXT, It remains to be seen how he will behave in the real world.because the participants were in the hospital during the tests, free from environmental influences that could affect treatment.

Over the past month, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has published data from two recent studies. In them, after a year of observation of KarXT treatment in people with schizophrenia, patients felt improvement

. However, 11 to 18% of participants stopped taking it due to side effects.

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