A common sleep medication has shown promise in preventing the devastating damage seen in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Lemborexant, an FDA-approved sleep aid, has been found to prevent harmful protein buildup and brain tissue loss in mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.
Research published in Nature Neuroscience suggests that targeting sleep problems early on might slow or prevent the brain damage that leads to memory loss and cognitive decline. The study, conducted by Washington University School of Medicine, showed that lemborexant improved sleep quality while also actively protecting brain tissue.
The protective effects were specific to lemborexant and weren’t seen with zolpidem, another sleep medication. Mice receiving the drug showed increased hippocampal volumes, critical for memory formation, and reduced abnormal tau protein buildup. Tau is a protein that normally helps maintain the structure of brain cells but becomes abnormally modified when it acquires too many chemical tags, triggering inflammation and killing neurons.
The researchers discovered that lemborexant worked by blocking orexin receptors, which keep us awake and alert. By shutting down these signals, the medication allowed natural sleep to occur more easily. The protective effect appeared to work through a specific cellular pathway involving cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and protein kinase A (PKA).
The study’s findings suggest that improving sleep might play a role in preventing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Current treatments primarily target amyloid plaques, providing only modest benefits in slowing cognitive decline.
While the results are promising, significant questions remain before lemborexant can be recommended for preventing Alzheimer’s disease in humans. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind lemborexant’s protective effects and to explore whether combining different therapeutic approaches might be more effective.
The study highlights the importance of maintaining healthy sleep patterns and suggests that a good night’s rest might be one of our most powerful tools for maintaining brain health throughout life.
Source: https://scienceblog.com/sleep-drug-shields-brain-from-tau-damage-in-alzheimers-research