A federally approved drug used to treat high blood pressure has been found to reduce cell damage linked to Alzheimer's disease in laboratory research by Georgetown University Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers say their work, detailed in the journal Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, points the way to potential using the drug candesartan — as well as other so-called Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) — in the early treatment of Alzheimer's.

"Our findings make sense in many ways," Dr. Juan M. Saavedra, from GUMC's Department of Pharmacology and Physiology. "Hypertension reduces blood flow throughout the body and brain and is a risk factor of Alzheimer's disease. Previous epidemiological studies found that Alzheimer's progression is delayed in hypertensive patients treated with ARBs."

IN the lab, the scientists found that candesartan prevented glutamate-induced death of brain cells often seen in Alzheimer’s patients.

"We hypothesize that candesartan, or other members of the ARB group, may not only slow progression of Alzheimer's but also prevent or delay its development," Saavedra says.

The researchers say their work paves the way for clinical studies on patients at early stages of Alzheimer's disease.