Old Drugs as New Treatments for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases are increasing in number, given that the general global population is becoming older. They manifest themselves through mechanisms that are not fully understood, in many cases, and impair memory, cognition and movement. Currently, no neurodegenerative disease is curable, and the treatments available only manage the symptoms or halt the progression of the disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new treatments for this kind of disease, since the World Health Organization has predicted that neurodegenerative diseases affecting motor function will become the second-most prevalent cause of death in the next 20 years. New therapies can come from three main sources: synthesis, natural products, and existing drugs. This last source is known as drug repurposing, which is the most advantageous, since the drug’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles are already established, and the investment put into this strategy is not as significant as for the classic development of new drugs. There have been several studies on the potential of old drugs for the most relevant neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Impact of Natural Compounds on Neurodegenerative Disorders: From Preclinical to Pharmacotherapeutics

“…Galantamine, an alkaloid extracted from Galanthus species, is a currently prescribed AChE inhibitor drug for AD and dementia [94,97]. Other promising secondary metabolites of note with AChE inhibitory activity are crocin, EGCG and naringin.…”

Applying Antibodies Inside Cells: Principles and Recent Advances in Neurobiology, Virology and Oncology

“…To date, there is no cure for neurodegenerative diseases, and all available treatments only manage symptoms or halt disease progression. Drug repurposing, which is the evaluation of existing drugs normally used to treat other diseases such as cancer, asthma, infections and others for their therapeutic potential in treating neurodegenerative diseases, is an active area of research with the advantage of already pre-existing knowledge about the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of drugs [142]. Beyond repurposing existing drugs, further research on molecular mechanisms and potential new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases is desirable.…”

Therapeutic effects of Crocin in autoimmune diseases: A review

“…Besides, they showed that Crocin treatment significantly reduced plasma amounts of IL‐1β, IL‐6, and TNF‐α in CIA mice. Therefore, their study proved that Crocin can inhibit the production of IL‐1β, IL‐6, and TNF‐α by inhibiting the nuclear factor kappa‐light‐chain‐enhancer of activated B cells (NF‐κB) activation via its interaction with inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa kinase (IKK) …”

“…Therefore, their study proved that Crocin can inhibit the production of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α by inhibiting the nuclear factor kappa-light-chainenhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) activation via its interaction with inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa kinase (IKK). 51 Hemshekhar et al studied the antiarthritic effects of Crocin. They found that Crocin efficiently neutralized the increased serum amounts of enzymatic (MMP-3, MMP-9, MMP-13 and hyaluronidases) and non-enzymatic (IL-1b, Cyclooxygenase-2:COX-2, Prostaglandin E2:PGE2, NF-kB, IL-6, TNF-a, and ROS) inflammatory mediators.…”