Prescription Drug Combinations May Slow Alzheimer's, Study Suggests
Millions of older adults take five or more prescription drugs every day to manage chronic illnesses. While polypharmacy is often necessary, this practice has also been linked to many negative health outcomes in older adults – including memory problems, increased risk of falls and greater frailty. The most common prescription drugs involved in polypharmacy are those used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression. Importantly, these same conditions are also known risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.
This raises an important question: could polypharmacy have any influence on the progression of Alzheimer's disease? Our recent research in mice suggests that certain prescription drug combinations might actually have a positive effect on memory and signs of Alzheimer's disease. However, these effects appeared to differ depending on whether the mouse was male or female. To better understand how polypharmacy may affect Alzheimer's disease, we designed an experiment using mice that were genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's-like brain changes.
These mice had amyloid plaques – clumps of protein in the brain that, with time, are linked with memory loss and considered a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease . We tested two different combinations of five commonly prescribed drugs, including: analgesics (painkillers), antithrombotics (to prevent blood clots), lipid-modifying agents (such as statins, which lower cholesterol), beta-blockers (which help controlling arrythmias and hypertension) and Ace inhibitors (used to treat cardiovascular conditions), as well as antidepressants. Both groups of mice were given paracetamol, aspirin, an antidepressant, a statin and a blood pressure drug. The only differences between the two groups were the specific types of statin and cardiovascular drugs used. The first group were given simvastatin and metoprolol, while the second group was given atorvastatin and enalapril.
We gave these prescription drug combinations to both male and female mice. We then tested their memory, examined their brains for signs of disease and analysed blood samples for disease-related markers. Our findings showed that polypharmacy has both positive and negative effects on Alzheimer's disease progression. The effects largely depended on which specific drug combinations were used as well as the sex of the mice. The first drug combination had beneficial effects in male mice. These mice showed better memory, reduced signs of Alzheimer's pathology in the brain (such as the number and size of amyloid plaques) and fewer signs of the disease in their blood.
https://www.sciencealert.com/prescription-drug-combinations-may-slow-alzheimers-study-suggests
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