Drug may improve memory of Alzheimer's patients

Washington, Feb 19 (ANI): A new study, conducted on mice, has shown that a drug used in a type of hereditary metabolic disorder could improve the memory of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers of the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra have shown that the drug sodium phenylbutyrate, prescribed until now for patients with alterations in the urea cycle, eases the fusion of proteins responsible for neuron connections, thus increasing the learning capacity of the mice involved.

According to researchers, these discoveries offer new, promising perspectives for the treatment of Alzheimer's and other related dementias.

Dr. Ana García-Osta, principal author of the study, said that these findings also provide a new alternative to the drugs that are currently available for fighting this devastating disease.

The research team is currently focused on discovering the acting mechanism in this drug.

As the drug is now clinically available and well tolerated, the confirmation of its therapeutic affectivity in humans could be applied to Alzheimer's in a shorter period of time than other drugs being studied.he study is published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. (ANI)