Drug Development.

Background: Pharmacoepidemiologic studies assessing drug effectiveness for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are increasingly popular given the critical need for effective therapies for ADRD. To meet the urgent need for robust dementia ascertainment from real-world data, we aimed to develop a novel algorithm for identifying incident and prevalent dementia in claims.

Method: We developed algorithm candidates by different timing/frequency of dementia diagnosis/treatment to identify dementia from inpatient/outpatient/prescription claims for 6,515 and 3,997 participants from Visits 5 (2011-2013; mean age 75.

Drug Development.

Background: The autophagy lysosomal pathway (ALP) and the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) are key proteostasis mechanisms in cells, which are dysfunctional in AD and linked to protein aggregation and neuronal death. Autophagy is over activated in Alzheimer's disease brain whereas UPS is severely impaired. Activating autophagy has received most attention, however recent evidence suggests that UPS can clear aggregate proteins and a potential therapeutic target for AD and protein misfolding diseases.

Drug Development.

Background: Availability of amyloid modifying therapies will dramatically increase the need for disclosure of Alzheimer's disease (AD) related genetic and/or biomarker test results. The 21st Century Cares Act requires the immediate return of most medical test results, including AD biomarkers. A shortage of genetic counselors and dementia specialists already exists, thus driving the need for scalable methods to responsibly communicate test results.

Drug Development.

Background: Pycnanthus angolensis (Welw) Warb., Myristicaceae, is used extensively in ethnomedicine. Numerous health benefits have being ascribed to the use of different parts of P.

Drug Development.

Background: The presence of multiple comorbid pathologic features in late-onset dementia has been well documented across cohort studies that incorporate autopsy evaluation. It is likely that such mixed pathology potentially confounds the results of interventional trials that are designed to target a solitary pathophysiologic mechanism in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Method: The UK ADRC autopsy database was screened for participants who had previously engaged in therapeutic interventional trials for Alzheimer's disease, vascular cognitive impairment, dementia, and/or ADRD prevention trials from 2005 to the present.

Drug Development.

Background: The vicious cycle between depression and dementia increases the risk of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathogenesis and pathology. This study investigates therapeutic effectiveness versus side effects and the underlying mechanisms of intranasal dantrolene nanoparticles (IDNs) to treat depression behavior and memory loss in 5XFAD mice.

Method: 5XFAD and wild-type B6SJLF1/J mice were treated with IDNs (IDN, 5 mg/kg) in Ryanodex formulation for a duration of 12 weeks.

Drug Development.

Background: There is an urgent need for new therapeutic and diagnostic targets for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Dementia afflicts roughly 55 million individuals worldwide, and the prevalence is increasing with longer lifespans and the absence of preventive therapies. Given the demonstrated heterogeneity of Alzheimer's disease in biological and genetic components, it is critical to identify new therapeutic approaches.

Drug Development.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia worldwide. It is characterized by dysfunction in the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) complex, which may precede TAU aggregation, enhancing premature polyadenylation, spliceosome dysfunction, and causing cell cycle reentry and death. Thus, we evaluated the effects of a synthetic single-stranded cDNA, called APT20TTMG, in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived neurons from healthy and AD donors and in the Senescence Accelerated Mouse-Prone 8 (SAMP8) model.

Drug Development.

Background: Immunotherapy of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a promising approach to reducing the accumulation of beta-amyloid, a critical event in the onset of the disease. Targeting the group II metabotropic glutamate receptors, mGluR2 and mGluR3, could be important in controlling Aβ production, although their respective contribution remains unclear due to the lack of selective tools.

Method: 5xFAD mice were chronically treated by a brain penetrant camelid single domain antibody (VHH or nanobody) that is an activator of mGluR2.

Drug Development.

Background: Although novel treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have begun to show modest therapeutic effects, agents that target hallmark AD pathology and offer neuroprotection are desired. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone with neuroprotective effects but is faced with challenges including limited brain uptake and increased hematopoietic side effects with long-term dosing. Therefore, EPO has been modified and bound to a chimeric transferrin receptor monoclonal antibody (cTfRMAb); the latter shuttles EPO past the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into brain parenchyma and reduces its plasma exposure and potential for side effects.

Drug Development.

Background: The DL-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP), a multi-target neuroprotective drug, improving cognitive impairment in patient with vascular cognitive impairment has been confirmed. The efficacy of NBP in patients with cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NBP in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD though a clinical randomized controlled trail.

Drug Development.

Background: Vaxxinity is developing an active immunotherapy targeting Tau for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other tauopathies. VXX-301 is a multi-epitope vaccine designed to target the N-terminal and repeat domains of Tau. This design enables targeting multiple forms of Tau thought to contribute to Tau associated pathologies.

Drug Development.

Background: The key advantage of active immunization is the induction of sustained, polyclonal antibody responses that are readily boosted by occasional immunizations. Recent clinical trial outcomes for monoclonal antibodies lecanemab and donanemab, establish the relevance of targeting pathological Abeta for clearing amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease. ACI-24.

Drug Development.

Background: Focused ultrasound (FUS)-induced blood-brain barrier opening (BBBO) is a technique for safely, non-invasively, and transiently opening the blood brain barrier in a targeted area of the brain. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown that FUS is capable of decreasing amyloid plaque load and stimulating neurogenesis in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) models, in addition to being safe for use in human patients. However, the effect of FUS-BBBO on neurons has not yet been characterized, despite its crucial role in cognition and regulating brain function.

Drug Development.

Background: Senile dementia (SD) is a deteriorative organic brain disorder and it comprises Alzheimer's disease (AD) as a major variant. SD is shown impairment of mental capacities whereas AD is degeneration of neurons. According to World Health Organization (WHO) report; more than 55 million peoples have dementia and it is raising 10 million new cases every year.

Drug Development.

Background: Genetic studies indicate a causal role for microglia, the innate immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite the progress made in identifying genetic risk factors, such as CD33, and underlying molecular changes, there are currently limited treatment options for AD. Based on the immune-inhibitory function of CD33, we hypothesize that inhibition of CD33 activation may reverse microglial suppression and restore their ability to resolve inflammatory processes and mitigate pathogenic amyloid plaques, which may be neuroprotective.

Drug Development.

Background: Our previous study identified that Sildenafil (a phosphodiesterase type 5 [PDE5] inhibitor) is a candidate repurposable drug for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using in silico network medicine approach. However, the clinically meaningful size and mechanism-of-actions of sildenafil in potential prevention and treatment of AD remind unknown.

Method: We conducted new patient data analyses using both the MarketScan® Medicare with Supplemental database (n = 7.

Drug Development.

Background: Dysregulated GABA/somatostatin (SST) signaling has been implicated in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. The inhibition of excitatory neurons by SST+ interneurons, particularly through α5-containing GABAA receptors (α5-GABAAR), plays a crucial role in mitigating cognitive functions. Previous research demonstrated that an α5-positive allosteric modulator (α5-PAM) mitigates working memory deficits and reverses neuronal atrophy in aged mice.

Drug Development.

Background: Developing drugs for treating Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been extremely challenging and costly due to limited knowledge on underlying biological mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Repurposing drugs or their combination has shown potential in accelerating drug development due to the reduced drug toxicity while targeting multiple pathologies.

Method: To address the challenge in AD drug development, we developed a multi-task machine learning pipeline to integrate a comprehensive knowledge graph on biological/pharmacological interactions and multi-level evidence on drug efficacy, to identify repurposable drugs and their combination candidates RESULT: Using the drug embedding from the heterogeneous graph representation model, we ranked drug candidates based on evidence from post-treatment transcriptomic patterns, mechanistic efficacy in preclinical models, population-based treatment effect, and Phase 2/3 clinical trials.

Drug Development.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) trials report a high screening failure rate (potentially eligible trial candidates who do not meet inclusion/exclusion criteria during screening) due to multiple factors including stringent eligibility criteria. Here, we report the main reasons for screening failure in the 12-week screening phase of the ongoing evoke (NCT04777396) and evoke+ (NCT04777409) trials of semaglutide in early AD.

Method: Key inclusion criteria were age 55-85 years; mild cognitive impairment due to AD (Clinical Dementia Rating [CDR] global score of 0.

Drug Development.

Background: The initiation of amyloid plaque deposition signifies a crucial stage in Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression, which often coincides with the disruption of neural circuits and cognitive decline. While the role of excitatory-inhibitory balance is increasingly recognized in AD pathophysiology, targeted therapies to modulate this balance remain underexplored. This study investigates the effect of perampanel, a selective non-competitive AMPA receptor antagonist, in modulating neurophysiological changes in hAPP-J20 transgenic Alzheimer's mice.

Drug Development.

Background: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the most common nonheritable causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is lack of effective treatment for both AD and TBI. We posit that network-based integration of multi-omics and endophenotype disease module coupled with large real-world patient data analysis of electronic health records (EHR) can help identify repurposable drug candidates for the treatment of TBI and AD.

Drug Development.

Background: Neuroinflammation plays an important role in progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Interlukin-6 (IL-6) is well identified marker in initiating and regulating inflammation, and formation of senile plaques in brain. Therefore, simultaneous inhibition of both IL-6 and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) may be an effective strategy for AD.

Drug Development.

Background: Alzheimer's disease neuropathology involves the deposition in brain of aggregates enriched with microtubule-binding-region (MTBR) of tau adopting an abnormal conformation between residues 306-378 in the core of aggregates. Anti-tau drugs targeting around this domain have the potential to interfere with the cell-to-cell propagation of pathological tau. Bepranemab is a humanized monoclonal Ig4 antibody binding to tau residues 235-250.

Drug Development.

Background: Impaired Aβ clearance plays a key role in the common, late-onset AD. Anti-Aβ immunotherapies are controversial, in part because of high rates of serious side effects including edema, microhemorrhages, and siderosis, highlighting the importance of the development of alternative Aβ clearance strategy. Here, we introduce a bioinspired nanoparticle named MG-PE3 crossing the human blood-brain barrier (BBB) and clearing Aβ with no adverse effect.