Journal of Pharmacological Reports
Open Access

Abstract

Repurposing Clinically Used Antibiotics for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Mehla J

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease, is the leading cause of dementia in elderly which is pathologically characterized by deposition of amyloid plaques and formation of neurofibrillary tangles [1]. Approximately, 29.8 million people worldwide are diagnosed with AD [2]. Moreover, clinical and experimental studies have already been shown the involvement of several infectious microbes such as Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1), Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydophila pneumoniae , and Borrelia burgdorferi in the cognitive decline [3]. Therefore, these infectious agents have been assumed as the possible cause of AD. Currently, available therapy provides only symptomatic treatment. There is an urgent need to develop a therapy which could slow the progression, delay the onset, prevent, reverse or improve the cognitive functions of AD patients. Various neuroscientists from academia and pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies are trying to find new therapeutic interventions for the treatment of AD.