Longevity & AgingSpinal cord injury drug repairs DNA damage and calms inflammation in Alzheimer's mice
Alzheimer's disease treatment is the focus of a new King's College London study on KCL-286, an oral small-molecule drug first developed for spinal cord injuries. In a mouse model of Alzheimer's, the drug helped repair breaks in DNA and reduced inflammation in the brain. These two processes appear very early in the disease, well before advanced symptoms. Most current drugs target the buildup of amyloid-beta and tau proteins, and those that clear amyloid offer only modest benefit. KCL-286 takes a different approach by going after several drivers at once. It has already passed Phase 1 human safety and tolerability trials, which could shorten the road to further testing. Importantly, the results so far come from mice, and whether the drug works against Alzheimer's in people has not been established. It is a promising lead rather than a treatment available now.
