2023 Alzheimer's Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship (AACSF)

Medicare Data to Identify Drugs that Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

Can anti-inflammatory drugs be repurposed to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s?

Rachel Litke, M.D., Ph.D.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, NY - United States

Background

Aging is one of the largest risk factors for Alzheimer’s. Several biological mechanisms may contribute to the risk associated with aging. One is called “inflammaging,” which is a low level of long-term inflammation throughout the brain and body during the aging process. Individuals with Alzheimer’s typically experience brain inflammation caused by dysregulation of the immune system, which can damage nerve cells.

Scientists are studying ways to reduce brain inflammation to prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. Dr. Rachel Litke and colleagues believe that the drugs currently used to treat chronic inflammation diseases, such as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, may impact one’s risk of Alzheimer’s.

Research Plan

Dr. Litke and team have developed a new drug screening platform to discover compounds that impact brain inflammation and the build-up of the protein beta-amyloid, a hallmark brain change associated with Alzheimer’s. The researchers identified 150 potential compounds that may protect against brain inflammation and brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s. Dr. Litke and colleagues will use data from Medicare to study if long-term treatment with these compounds reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s in a large population of Americans.

Impact

If successful, this project may identify drugs already in use to treat chronic inflammation diseases that may be repurposed to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s.