About this Research Topic
Emerging evidence from basic, clinical, and epidemiological studies suggests that drug mechanisms of currently approved drugs can impact the risk and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Repurposing existing drugs is a pathway for treatment that has worked for several other conditions (e.g., cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, erectile dysfunction) and this pathway to treatment can often be faster and more cost-effective than developing a new drug and going through the process to market approval. As ADRD grows as a public health problem placing a huge personal and financial cost on individuals, families, and the healthcare system, harnessing effective treatment quickly is key to reducing burden. Given the expense, safety risks, and substantial patient burden to receive treatment associated with lecanemab, the only current treatment available for AD, developing safe strategies for easier treatment is necessary.
Our Research Topic aims to spotlight the most innovative and recent research on the off-label use of drugs to reduce the risk and prevent or slow the progression of ADRD. Our goal is to showcase the most up-to-date advances and current trends in drug repurposing for dementia which may hold potential based on emerging research and clinical observations. We seek to better understand the efficacy, safety, and underlying mechanisms of off-label drugs in targeting dementia-related pathophysiological processes. Ultimately, this Research Topic strives to accelerate the finding of therapeutic avenues for dementia and provide critical insights for the development of future treatment strategies.
We welcome the submission of any type of manuscript supported by the journal (including Original Research, Review, Brief Research Report, etc.) addressing the repurposing of drugs for the treatment of dementia. Possible themes may be pertaining but not limited to the following:
- Repurposed pharmacological therapies targeting risk factors of dementia
- Population-based studies of off-label drug efficacy for dementia
- Randomized clinical trials on drug repurposing for dementia
- Implementation of advanced epidemiological methods to study drug repurposing in dementia and discriminate the contribution of co-morbidities, single risk factors, individual variability, and others
- Challenges in the identification of clinical outcomes and dementia biomarkers to evaluate the efficacy of off-label prescriptions for dementia
- Implementation of imaging techniques to study drug repurposing
- The confounding impact of co-morbidities in the evaluation of off-label drugs for dementia
- Comparative analysis for the identification of the most promising off-label drug classes
- Genome-wide association and multi-omics studies in dementia for the identification of targets for repurposed drugs
- Latest advances in drug discovery to screen drug candidates for dementia off-label treatment
- Novel insights on the “barrier of the Blood-Brain Barrier” to the implementation of off-label drugs for dementia treatment
Articles accepted after peer review will be published and appear online as soon as accepted for publication.
Our Research Topic aims to spotlight the most innovative and recent research on the off-label use of drugs to reduce the risk and prevent or slow the progression of ADRD. Our goal is to showcase the most up-to-date advances and current trends in drug repurposing for dementia which may hold potential based on emerging research and clinical observations. We seek to better understand the efficacy, safety, and underlying mechanisms of off-label drugs in targeting dementia-related pathophysiological processes. Ultimately, this Research Topic strives to accelerate the finding of therapeutic avenues for dementia and provide critical insights for the development of future treatment strategies.
We welcome the submission of any type of manuscript supported by the journal (including Original Research, Review, Brief Research Report, etc.) addressing the repurposing of drugs for the treatment of dementia. Possible themes may be pertaining but not limited to the following:
- Repurposed pharmacological therapies targeting risk factors of dementia
- Population-based studies of off-label drug efficacy for dementia
- Randomized clinical trials on drug repurposing for dementia
- Implementation of advanced epidemiological methods to study drug repurposing in dementia and discriminate the contribution of co-morbidities, single risk factors, individual variability, and others
- Challenges in the identification of clinical outcomes and dementia biomarkers to evaluate the efficacy of off-label prescriptions for dementia
- Implementation of imaging techniques to study drug repurposing
- The confounding impact of co-morbidities in the evaluation of off-label drugs for dementia
- Comparative analysis for the identification of the most promising off-label drug classes
- Genome-wide association and multi-omics studies in dementia for the identification of targets for repurposed drugs
- Latest advances in drug discovery to screen drug candidates for dementia off-label treatment
- Novel insights on the “barrier of the Blood-Brain Barrier” to the implementation of off-label drugs for dementia treatment
Articles accepted after peer review will be published and appear online as soon as accepted for publication.
Keywords: Off-label drug use, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, pharmaceuticals, drug repurposing, cognitive dysfunction
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
