An HIV Drug Shows Signs of Guarding Against Dementia

Neurodegenerative conditions like dementia impact tens of millions of people worldwide every year. While there’s still a lot we don’t understand about diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s, we do know that the issues largely seem to stem from misfolded proteins—or, rather, our body’s inability to clear them out of our brains.

As they build up, these toxic proteins can kill brain cells and trigger diseases like Alzheimer’s. Healthy bodies are typically capable of clearing out diseases and pathogens in the brain with immune cells called microglia. However, neurodegenerative diseases actually cause the immune cells to harm healthy cells—and encourage the build up of proteins.

Targeting these proteins has long been a goal for scientists developing treatments for dementia. That’s why a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge in the U.K. published a study Wednesday in the journal Neuron that detailed a new approach clearing out clusters of the proteins in mice. Specifically, the authors repurposed an HIV drug called maraviroc to do so. Maraviroc was approved by the FDA to treat the autoimmune disease in 2007.

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