Posted on 05/31/2025 10:36:53 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A common sleep aid restores healthier sleep patterns and protects mice from the brain damage seen in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, according to new research. The drug, lemborexant, prevents the harmful buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau in the brain, reducing the inflammatory brain damage tau is known to cause in Alzheimer's.
The study suggests that lemborexant could help treat or prevent the damage caused by tau in multiple neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal syndrome and some frontotemporal dementias.
"In this new study, we have shown that lemborexant improves sleep and reduces abnormal tau, which appears to be a main driver of the neurological damage that we see in Alzheimer's and several related disorders.
Lemborexant is one of three sleep drugs approved by the FDA that inhibit the effect of orexins, small proteins that regulate sleep, by acting as orexin receptor antagonists. Lemborexant blocks both orexin receptors (type 1 and type 2). Receptors are proteins on the cell surface that bind to other molecules and regulate cell activity. These receptors are known to play important roles in sleep-wake cycles and appetite, among other physiological processes.
In mice genetically prone to harmful tau buildup, lemborexant reduced brain damage compared with control mice. For example, those receiving lemborexant showed a 30% to 40% larger volume in the hippocampus—a part of the brain important for forming memories—compared with control mice and those receiving a different sleep drug, zolpidem, which belongs to a different class of drugs.
Normal tau is important in maintaining the structure and function of neurons. When healthy, it carries a small number of chemical tags called phosphate groups. But when tau picks up too many of these chemical tags, it can clump together, leading to inflammation and nerve cell death.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Looks like it could have some serious side-effects, including self-harm.
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Bkmk
Why would mice need to take sleeping pills?
Do they go to the “little” Hole in the Wall pharmacy?
Has the same side effects as Ambien -— it can make you completely unaware of your actions, such as driving a car, having sex, going shopping, all while you’re supposedly asleep. Other than that, sounds like a miracle.
and has a 17-19 hour half life, so as long as you’re happy feeling like a walking zombie all of the next day, it’s great stuff!
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