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ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

A water pill against Alzheimer’s disease

Nature Aging volume 1, pages 868–869 (2021)Cite this article

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The apolipoprotein E gene ε4 allele (APOE4) is the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Over 60% of patients have at least one APOE4 allele. A drug discovery approach targeting aging and AD transcriptomic signatures suggests bumetanide might prevent or treat AD in people with the APOE4/APOE4 genotype.

The past decade witnessed a rising tide of people living with dementia worldwide. About 60–70% of the dementia cases were caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is characterized pathologically by the accumulation of amyloid-β and hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain1. The risk of AD is strongly influenced by two factors: age and apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) variation2. The research community has devoted tremendous effort to understanding the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of AD. The emergence of ‘big data’ generated through multi-omics approaches (including genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, lipidomics and proteomics) has revolutionized the AD field. Now it is time to take advantage of the data to identify cures for AD.

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Fig. 1: Workflow used by Taubes et al. to identify bumetanide against Alzheimer’s disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Zonghua Li & Na Zhao

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  1. Zonghua Li
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  2. Na Zhao
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Correspondence to Na Zhao.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Li, Z., Zhao, N. A water pill against Alzheimer’s disease. Nat Aging 1, 868–869 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00124-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00124-5

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