In Japan, a nasal spray has been developed against senile dementia

Japanese professor Takami Tomiyama together with colleagues from Osaka University founded the medical company Medilabo RFP. It is needed for clinical trials, and then for the production of a new drug – nasal spray, which prevents the development of neurodegenerative diseases. The drug does not have a name yet, but experiments on rodents have shown that it is perhaps the best tool for combating age-related dementia today.

Back in 2016, a study was conducted that proved the effectiveness of the antibiotic rifampicin in the fight against toxic proteins, the accumulation of which contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. However, difficulties immediately arose – the substance had to be administered in the early stages of the disease, or even better in advance, for prevention. But rifampicin has a dangerous side effect – it negatively affects the liver, so it can not be used in large doses and often.

Japanese scientists continued their work and by 2018 they had found a solution – they proposed to inject the antibiotic nasally so that it would immediately get into the brain. In addition, a substance was experimentally selected to neutralize the dangerous effects of rifampicin – it became a natural antioxidant resveratrol. The combination of these substances in the form of a spray formed the basis of the new medicine.

Experiments on mice confirmed that after a month-long course of the drug, the accumulation of dangerous proteins in the brain practically stopped. Tomiyama and colleagues also reduced the dosage of rifampicin from the usual 10 mg / kg of body weight per day to only 0.081 mg / kg, proving that the effectiveness of the effect is maintained, but the side effects are nullified. The next test of the spray against dementia is already on people, which should begin very soon.