Cambridge: A drug used for HIV may protect against a dangerous protein that forms in dementia, an early-stage study has found.
Research by scientists at the University of Cambridge has revealed that in Huntington’s disease and other forms of dementia, the brain’s ability to eliminate toxic proteins is impaired.
The new study on mice used an HIV drug called miraviric. The experiment showed that the drug was able to activate the aforementioned processes in the brain, which helped prevent the accumulation of dangerous proteins and slow progression of the disease.
The study’s senior author, Professor David Rubinstein, from the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, said the discovery was exciting for researchers because they had just discovered a new mechanism that rapidly destroys our nervous system. Not only have they discovered it, but they also know that it can potentially be prevented with safe treatments that already exist.
“Miraviric itself may not be a magic pill, but it certainly shows a possible way forward,” he said.
He said that during the development of this drug as a treatment for HIV, several drugs failed due to lack of effectiveness against HIV. Perhaps researchers will find one of these drugs effective in protecting humans from neurological disease.
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