Repurposing bumetanide for Alzheimer’s
Bumetanide (Bumex) is a diuretic drug (a medication that removes water, by increasing the production of urine). It is used to treat swelling caused by heart failure or liver or kidney disease. It is a widely used drug that has been well characterised in clinical use. Recently researchers conducted a screening […]
Making a (G)case for quetiapine
Drug repurposing (repositioning, reprofiling or re-tasking) is a strategy of identifying novel uses for clinically approved (or experimental) drugs that fall outside the scope of the original medical indication. Many drug repurposing efforts have started with screening experiments, looking for drugs with certain properties. Recently, researchers conducted a drug repurposing screening […]
Farnesol: The farnesylator of PARIS
A build up of “PARkin Interacting Substrate” (or PARIS) protein has been proposed as one potential mediator of the pathology observed in some cases of Parkinson’s. The accumulation of this protein leads to the inhibition of a key protein called PGC-1α, which is a neuroprotective protein that helps to keep cells […]
The Bluerockers have started
On the 8th June, BlueRock Therapeutics put out a press release announcing that the first participant in their Phase I clinical trial of cell transplantation for Parkinson’s had been dosed (Click here to read the press release). The initiation of this clinical trial by the company is a major step forward […]
The Anavex results
This week some encouraging clinical trial results were announced by a biotech firm called Anavex Life Sciences. The company had been testing their lead experimental therapy – a Sigma-1 receptor agonist called ANAVEX2-73 (also known as blarcamesine) – in 132 people with Parkinson’s disease dementia over a 14 week period. The […]