Foresee novel targets for Alzheimer's disease by investigating repurposed drugs

Background: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most rampant neurodegenerative disorder which has caused havoc worldwide. More than a century has passed since the first case of AD was reported, but still no stable treatment is known to mankind. The available medications only provide temporary relief and are not a cure for the disease. The hunt for advanced techniques in drug development has paved the way for drug repurposing, i.e., repositioning or reutilizing drugs as an innovative approach.

Methodology: Several drugs which were repurposed for AD were collected by following PRISMA 2020 systemic review. Databases like PubMed, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, and SciELO were used for data extraction. Further, Drugbank database was used to download all the identified drugs. Later, the Swiss Target Prediction tool was used to identify protein receptors for these drugs and the biological pathway followed by them.

Results: Drugs like Zileuton, Salbutamol, Baricitinib, Carmustine, Paclitaxel, and Nilotinib were observed to be involved in regulation of neurotransmitters. Similarly, Metformin, Liraglutide, UDCA, and Bexarotene are involved in protein kinase cascades which also is one of the prime processes in metabolic disorders like AD. Furthermore, drugs like Rosiglitazone, Pioglitazone, and Lonafarnib are involved in interleukin-3 biosynthetic processes, which is again one of the most important processes studied in AD treatment.

Conclusion: The study concluded that the reviewed drugs that follow similar biological and molecular processes can be repurposed for AD if chosen judiciously with current medications and thus drug repurposing is a promising approach that can be utilized to find a cure for AD within a brief time and fewer resources compared to de novo drug synthesis. Although certain loopholes still need to be worked upon, the technique has great prospects. Furthermore, in silico methods can be utilized to justify the findings and identify the best drug candidate.