REVIEW ON DRUG REPURPOSING FOR THE TREATMENT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by memory loss, cognitive decline, and neuronal death. Despite extensive research, effective disease-modifying treatments are limited. Drug repurposing, which identifies new therapeutic uses for existing drugs, offers a promising and cost-effective strategy for accelerating the discovery of AD treatments. This approach leverages the known safety profiles and pharmacokinetics of approved drugs to target Alzheimer’s-related mechanisms, such as amyloid-beta aggregation, tau protein hyperphosphorylation, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. Several repurposed candidates, including antidiabetic agents (metformin), antihypertensives, antidepressants, and anti-inflammatory drugs, have demonstrated potential neuroprotective effects in both preclinical and clinical studies. Overall, drug repurposing represents a practical and efficient pathway to uncover novel therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, potentially shortening development timelines and improving patient outcomes.