For patients with Alzheimer’s disease, hydromethylthionine, a tau protein inhibitor, could be effective in improving cognitive symptoms associated with the neurodegenerative condition, a new study found.

According to researchers, hydromethylthionine, a drug approved by the World Health Organization, can be effectual even at minimal doses, based on two Phase 3 global clinical trials. The findings appeared in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

In the study, researchers conducted pharmacokinetic analysis based on samples from 1,162 patients from the Phase 3 trials. “Pharmacokinetic analyses were undertaken using plasma concentration data from patients who participated in either of two completed Phase III trials which have been described previously,” the findings state.

During their analysis of plasma concentration data, researchers tested patients for any correlation between treatment dose, blood levels, and pharmacological activity.

What they determined was that hydromethylthionine, administered at minimal doses, was beneficial for treating cognitive decline and brain atrophy.

“The additional results of this analysis have given us the confidence to expand the scope of the new TauRx Lucidity clinical trial to confirm the potential efficacy of the hydromethylthionine 16 mg/day dose in these types of patients,” said Claude Wischik, co-author of the study.

“In addition to the reduction in brain atrophy, we were surprised to see the large cognitive effects of treatment in the patient group with the higher blood levels of hydromethylthionine at the 8 mg daily dose,” Wischik added.

“According to scores from the ADAS-cog scale, the effect was around 7.5 points, or three times that seen from current routine Alzheimer’s treatments, and would be equivalent to an 85% reduction in cognitive decline over 65 weeks.”

“The extensive data, experience, and now pharmacokinetics, highlight the potential of hydromethylthionine treatment as an important new avenue forward in Alzheimer’s disease,” George Perry, the top editor at the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, stated. “The clinical benefit and reduction in brain atrophy greatly exceed those reported for other therapeutic routes.”

Given the findings, researchers proclaim hydromethylthionine could be a potentially efficient treatment acting on the tau pathology for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, however, more research is needed.