Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine gave mice mega-doses of bexarotene, a drug used to treat a type of skin cancer called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and discovered that the drug quickly reversed Alzheimer's disease in mice.
"They saw very positive and robust behavior effects in the mice." said Maria Carrillo, senior director for medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer's Association.
The mice showed drastic improvements in memory and more than 50% of amyloid plaque had been removed from the brain within 72 hours.
"I want to say as loudly and clearly as possible that this was a study in mice, not in humans," said Gary Landreth, the lead researcher at Case Western. "We've fixed Alzheimer's in mice lots of times, so we need to move forward expeditiously but cautiously."
Landreth said his lab had been working on other drugs for Alzheimer's for 10 years when a graduate student decided to try bexarotene, which works on a receptor involved in amyloid beta clearance.
"We're really lucky that bexarotene is a great drug with an acceptable safety profile," he said. "This doesn't happen very many times in life'"
The study was published Thursday in the journal Science.
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