A Sleeping Pill for Alzheimer's Disease

To repurpose a sleeping pill for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in a mouse model.

Alzheimer’s disease is a memory disorder without an effective cure. Disruptions in brain activity associated with sleep and memory impairments that Alzheimer’s patients experience could hold the key to the development of effective therapeutic strategies. Since Alzheimer’s patients suffer from sleep disturbances, the administration of FDA-approved sleeping pills could restore their sleep and slow disease progression. Thus, we will administer proven and safe sleeping pills in a mouse model. The results will indicate whether sleeping pills could be effective at slowing Alzheimer’s disease.

Drug repurposing has numerous advantages over conventional drug discovery approaches, including considerable cuts in research and development costs. Clinically proven hypnotics are safe and are actively prescribed to the aging population. These therapies will be tested in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.

The work is highly translational. If successful, it will provide the scientific community with a strong foundation for the repurposing of FDA-approved hypnotics for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.