How can you fix a sickness before symptoms show? This problem has frustrated academics and pharmaceutical firms seeking preventative medicines (prophylactics) for neurodegenerative dementia. One thing is to approach the problem intellectually — a medicine with efficient brain and cell entrance that gives sufficient therapeutic benefits at a low dose, risk, and expense; it’s quite another to discover a practical, real-world answer.
1. The use of a Nasal Spray containing Rifampicin and Resveratrol Enhanced the Cognition of Laboratory Mice.
Researchers from Osaka City University have created an intranasally administrable combination that retains mice cognition while also inhibiting harmful protein aggregation in numerous types of neurodegenerative illness, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo and the University of Tokyo Medical School conducted a study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience in which they combined a drug called rifampicin, which can prevent neurodegeneration but has toxic side effects, with resveratrol, an antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory with neuroprotective properties. Their findings demonstrate that this combinatorial medication outperforms the single-drug rifampicin in terms of both safety and efficacy and that it represents a practical method of preventing neurodegenerative dementia by targeting harmful proteins in the brain.
2. Intranasal Rifampicin and Resveratrol for Neurodegenerative Dementia Prevention
According to recent data from clinical studies, a consensus has been reached that therapy for neurodegenerative dementia should begin earlier, during the asymptomatic periods, before the brain begins to degenerate. In order to prevent dementia, medications must be developed that are cost-effective, safe, readily administrated, and brain-penetrant, all while targeting several toxic proteins that cause neurodegeneration – an extremely difficult task to do successfully.
Umeda and colleagues combined two neuroprotective chemicals, rifampicin and resveratrol, in order to meet these requirements. Rifampicin is now a low-cost generic medication, and resveratrol is also a low-cost antioxidant, allowing for the production and distribution of the combinatorial therapy at a low cost. The goal of this collaboration is to develop a safe and effective combination that prevents neurodegenerative dementia by targeting harmful proteins in the brain.
Oral rifampicin might produce adverse consequences, while oral resveratrol is swiftly converted into inactive forms. Nasal sprays also make it easy and painless for patients to take these treatments, which is why Osaka City University researchers selected this strategy. Intranasal administration of both medications overcomes these issues and has various advantages over single-drug therapy.
Both medications have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities, avoiding toxic protein buildup that causes neurodegenerative diseases. Still, using either alone has its drawbacks. Rifampicin is an antibiotic with well-known side effects. It can cause liver damage and medication interactions. The rifampicin-induced liver damage disappeared when these two medicines were combined, demonstrating that resveratrol protects and neutralizes rifampicin’s toxicity. Finally, the Osaka City University researchers found that intranasal treatment removed various neurodegeneration-causing toxic proteins, including amyloid-beta and tau. That intranasal rifampicin and resveratrol reach the brain and cells are promising.
3. Resveratrol Protects Memory in Alzheimer’s Mice
Sarroca and colleagues from the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques de Barcelonssa in Spain studied the effects of resveratrol, a polyphenol present in common food sources with neuroprotective properties. The researchers found that resveratrol reversed memory loss in mice fed a high-fat diet and prevented memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease-modeling animals. Resveratrol significantly decreased amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
Resveratrol is a polyphenol found in grapes and berries. It has anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and longevity-promoting effects. A recent study found that resveratrol can lengthen longevity and postpone age-related disorders in laboratory animals. Sarroca and colleagues investigated the molecular pathways implicated in the advancement of Alzheimer’s disease caused by a high-fat diet. 5XFAD mice were fed a normal diet, high fat diet, or high-fat diet supplemented with 0.1% resveratrol for 16 weeks. It was previously proven to protect against Alzheimer’s disease development in another mouse model (3xTg-AD) and to improve cognitive function in healthy mice fed a standard non-high-fat diet.
