A research group led by Professor Takami Tomiyama of Osaka City University's graduate school found that nasal administration of rifampicin and resveratrol was more effective in improving safety and cognitive function than administration of rifampicin alone, resulting in injury. However, it was revealed that it also has the effect of repairing nerves.It is expected to lead to the development of safe and effective preventive nasal drops for dementia.
Rifampicin is an inexpensive generic drug that has been used as an antibiotic for the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy.Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol, a highly safe substance used as an antioxidant supplement in Europe and the United States.Dementia is said to occur when proteins called amyloid β and tau accumulate in the brain and become oligomers.The research group has previously shown that rifampicin has an improving effect on cognitive function, but side effects such as liver damage have been a problem.
This time, the research group nasally administered a combination of rifampicin and resveratrol 5 days a week for a total of 4 weeks to model mice with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Lewy body dementia.As a result, the cognitive function of mice was significantly improved, the accumulation of oligomers was suppressed, and hippocampal synaptophysin levels were restored.The blood level of liver enzyme, which is a marker of liver damage that normally increases with rifampicin administration, is also maintained at normal levels by combination administration, and damage such as an increase in the expression level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which was not seen with rifampicin alone, is damaged. It is also expected to repair nerve cells.
Our results show that this combination is superior to rifampicin alone in terms of both safety and efficacy.In the future, he hopes to proceed with clinical trials by raising funds.
