Sleeping Pills & Alzheimer’s: New Research
- A new study indicates that lemborexant, a common sleep medication, could restore healthy sleep patterns and protect against brain damage observed in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's disease.
- The findings suggest that lemborexant, and similar drugs, might offer a way to treat or prevent tau-related damage across various neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal syndrome,...
- David M.Holtzman, a neurology professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Lemborexant, a common sleep aid, shows promise in the fight against Alzheimer’s, potentially protecting against brain damage linked to the disease. Groundbreaking research reveals this medication reduces harmful tau protein buildup in mice, a key factor in Alzheimer’s, paving the way for new treatments.This study suggests benefits for wider neurodegenerative diseases, offering hope to those battling progressive supranuclear palsy and other conditions. Scientists are optimistic, noting that better sleep may reduce abnormal tau accumulation and brain inflammation. The findings underscore the critical connection between quality sleep and brain health. News Directory 3 is tracking developments closely. Explore this vital breakthrough and discover what’s next in the quest for effective therapies.
Sleep Aid Shows Promise in Alzheimer’s, Neurodegenerative Disease Research
A new study indicates that lemborexant, a common sleep medication, could restore healthy sleep patterns and protect against brain damage observed in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. The research, conducted on mice, reveals the drug’s potential to prevent the accumulation of abnormal tau protein, which is known to cause inflammatory brain damage.
The findings suggest that lemborexant, and similar drugs, might offer a way to treat or prevent tau-related damage across various neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal syndrome, and some frontotemporal dementias.
David M.Holtzman, a neurology professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, noted the established link between sleep loss and Alzheimer’s risk.”In this new study,we have shown that lemborexant improves sleep and reduces abnormal tau,which appears to be a main driver of the neurological damage that we see in Alzheimer’s and several related disorders,” Holtzman said.
Holtzman expressed hope that the findings will spur further research into lemborexant and the development of more effective therapies, possibly used alone or in combination with existing treatments. He emphasized the need for strategies to reduce abnormal tau buildup and associated inflammation,suggesting that sleep aids like lemborexant warrant further investigation.
“We need ways to reduce the abnormal tau buildup and its accompanying inflammation, and this type of sleep aid is worth looking at further,” Holtzman said.
Previous work by Holtzman’s team established poor sleep as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, linking it to the buildup of amyloid and tau proteins.The latest study demonstrated that improving sleep with lemborexant in mice genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s-like protein buildup appeared to offer protection, reducing tau protein tangles and nerve cell death.
The researchers chose to study lemborexant due to its effects on brain regions affected by tau accumulation and its lack of motor coordination impairment, a concern for dementia patients using hypnotic sleep aids. Lemborexant, an orexin receptor antagonist, is one of three FDA-approved sleep drugs that inhibit orexins, small proteins regulating sleep.
The study revealed that mice treated with lemborexant exhibited less brain damage compared to control groups. Notably, the hippocampus volume was 30% to 40% larger in mice receiving lemborexant compared to control mice and those treated with zolpidem, a different type of sleep drug. Zolpidem improved sleep but lacked the protective effects against tau accumulation seen with lemborexant, suggesting the importance of the orexin receptor antagonist mechanism. The beneficial effects were observed only in male mice,a detail the researchers are still investigating.
Researchers found that lemborexant prevents excess phosphate groups from being added to tau, helping it maintain its healthy roles in the brain.
What’s next
Holtzman’s team plans to continue investigating why lemborexant’s neuroprotective effects were limited to male mice, speculating that the lower severity of neurodegeneration in female mice might have made the drug’s benefits harder to detect.