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UT Health San Antonio clinical trial offers hope that HIV drug may also fight Alzheimer's disease

A picture of a lamp post on the grounds of UT Health San Antonio with UT Health San Antonio banners on the sides of it.
Josh Peck
/
TPR
The campus of UT Health San Antonio

UT Health San Antonio recently conducted a clinical trial to see if the drug used to treat HIV and hepatitis B could treat dementia, and, in a statement about the study, researchers reported that the results were promising.

Lamivudine is an FDA approved drug. When applied to those with mild cognitive changes, the improvement on neurodegeneration and inflammation is favorable, they explained.

The antiviral drug is also used to stop HIV and hepatitis B from multiplying. UT Health San Antonio said the latest findings encouraged researchers to keep exploring the drug's potential.

Researchers from UT Health San Antonio’s Glenn Biggs Institute and Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies developed the clinical trial.

Anna Campbell Sullivan, clinical associate professor and the study’s co-principal investigator, specializes in research on detection, diagnosis and care for those with dementia. She said this trial was on a small scale, and all participants were patients in their clinic.

“This is the first trial looking at it in people, and we wanted to see if it was safe. And so we studied,” Campbell-Sullivan said. “We didn't want to make anyone worse, and we didn't, and all 12 individuals completed the trial … everyone stayed stable, so no one got significantly worse. ...”

The study was conducted with 12 participants between the ages of 52 and 83, all showing signs of mild cognitive impairment. After being placed on the drug for six months — a time during which the researchers collected blood and cerebrospinal fluid — they found that the drug reduced inflammation and neurodegeneration.

Campbell Sullivan said when choosing the participants, they were screened and recently diagnosed. They were still able to drive, live independently and did not need much outside interference. She said the goal was to see if the disease would progress, and it didn’t.

“We’re showing some possible improvements in these measures, like these biomarker measures of Alzheimer’s disease, so we’re creating some change, and I think that is important,” she said. “We want to see the significance of that in a larger group.”

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Gabriella Alcorta-Solorio is a reporter for Texas Public Radio. She recently graduated from Texas State University with a major in journalism, minoring in women’s studies. She has previously worked as a photojournalist with The Ranger and has reported on Alzheimer’s and dementia in South Texas using public health data. Her main focuses include reporting on health as well as military and veterans issues. Alcorta-Solorio is a U.S. Army veteran.