Scientists Intrigued by Old Drug That Reverses Signs of Alzheimer's in Mice

"According to the researchers' findings, the arginine can help flush these plaques and break them apart. They demonstrated this by feeding mice with amyloid-beta buildup in their brains drinking water and food infused with small doses of the drug. Along with breaking up the buildup, they also found that the mice which were administered arginine showed improved behavior and cognitive performance, suggesting that the drug helped reverse some of the disease's harmful effects."

""Our study demonstrates that arginine can suppress amyloid-beta aggregation both in vitro and in vivo," study coauthor Yoshitaka Nagai, neuroscientist at Kindai University, said in a statement about the work. "What makes this finding exciting is that arginine is already known to be clinically safe and inexpensive, making it a highly promising candidate for repositioning as a therapeutic option for Alzheimer's disease.""

Oral arginine suppressed amyloid-beta aggregation both in vitro and in vivo. Arginine is already prescribed for high blood pressure and is clinically safe and inexpensive. Arginine administration in drinking water and food reduced plaque accumulation, broke plaques apart, and improved behavior and cognitive performance in mice with amyloid-beta brain buildup. Behavioral assessment used an elevated Y-shaped maze measuring travel distance and entries into open arms. Amyloid-beta proteins can clump into sticky plaques that are considered a hallmark of Alzheimer's, though not all patients have such plaques. Arginine represents a promising repurposing candidate for Alzheimer's treatment.

Read at Futurism