Teen researcher identifies two existing drugs that may help limit Alzheimer's damage

Leon Wang, a teenage student, conducted research examining already-approved medications for their potential to protect against Alzheimer's disease. He found that nintedanib and pirfenidone demonstrated protective effects in cell-based models. Wang's study focused on the APOE4 gene variant and changes in brain blood vessel cells as key targets. His approach of repurposing existing drugs could offer a quicker and more cost-effective pathway for Alzheimer's research. The findings indicate that further investigation into drugs targeting the TGFβ pathway may be worthwhile.