Antidepressants could slow down Alzheimer's

New research has suggested that antidepressants could be used to slow the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

A small study, including 23 people and transgenic mice, found an anti-depressant called citalopram interferes with a protein, which helps to build the destructive plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

It is hoped, according to the research teams from the University of Pennsylvania and Washington University School of Medicine, that this finding could help prevent the disease altogether. 

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, and affects the brain as "protein tangles" build up in the pathways, causing the death of brain cells and a shortage in chemicals needed to transmit messages.

Carried out between 2012 and 2014, the study bred mice with Alzheimer's disease and measured the levels of the peptide - or protein component - amyloid beta (AB), in the brain. It is thought that these AB clusters in plaques trigger the disease when found alongside the tau protein.

After a treatment of citalopram, the level of AB fell by 25 per cent in the mice, compared to the control group, which received no antidepressant. After two months, the research team found the growth of new plaques was reduced, while existing plaques did not increase. However, the authors noted that the drug was unable to make current plaques smaller.

A small number of people were then used in the study, all between the ages of 18 and 50 and described as healthy by the researchers. Each of the 23 participants were given a single dose of citalopram, and their AB levels were monitored.

According to the study, AB fell by 38 per cent during the 37-hour period after treatment, when compared to a placebo group.

Lead author, Dr Yvette Sheline, at the University of Pennsylvania, told the BBC that antidepressants helped by "clipping" the AB molecules, preventing them from working properly.

Although the results were "exciting", she added that it was only a "proof of concept" study, and has not yet been tested on people with Alzheimer's disease. However, she added that, if the results are successful, it could be used to slow the progression of the disease ten to 15 years before it could typically become apparent.