Scientists say they discovered that a drug used to treat a type of cancer reversed Alzheimer’s disease in mice quickly.

Senior director,  Maria Carrillo, for medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer’s Association said they saw very positive and robust behavior effects in the mice.

In the study published Thursday in the journal Science, researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine induced mice mega-doses of bexarotene, a drug used to treat a type of skin cancer called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and within 72 hours, the mice showed dramatic improvements in memory and more than 50% of amyloid plaque, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease — had been removed from the brain.

Gary Landreth, lead researcher at Case Western, cautioned that even though his results were impressive in mice, it just may turn out not to work in people, saying that this was a study in mice, not in humans. Fixing Alzheimer’s in mice many times before has been done, so moving forward quickly but cautiously in necessary.

Alzheimer’s for mice and humans with have high levels of a substance called amyloid beta in their brain. Pathology tests on the mice indicated bexarotene lowered the levels of amyloid beta and raised the levels of apolipoprotein E, which helps maintain low amyloid beta levels.

Landreth said he hopes to try the drug out in healthy humans within two months, to see if effect is the same.

Participants the trial would be given the standard dose that cancer patients are usually given.

One of the major advantages of bexarotene is that it’s already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in humans, which means the researchers can move into human trials sooner than if it were a completely new drug.

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The Views and Opinions expressed by the author are his or her opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of this Web-Site or its agents, affiliates, officers, directors, staff, or contractors. The author at the time of this article did not own any shares or receive any consideration financial or otherwise from any company or person mentioned or referred to in the article.