WEDNESDAY, Aug. 9, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- The Alzheimer's drug galantamine shows promise in guarding the brain against nerve agents and certain pesticides, U.S. researchers say.
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine say galantamine, which is used to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, could be used to protect soldiers, emergency medical personnel, farm workers, and others exposed to organophosphorus compounds. The study was published this week in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Nerve agents, such as soman and sarin, are among the most lethal chemical weapons ever developed. They have been used with catastrophic results in wars and terrorist attacks, such as the subway attacks with sarin in Japan in the late 1990s," study principal investigator Dr. Edson X. Albuquerque, professor and chair, department of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, said in a prepared statement.
"The possibility of further terrorist attacks with nerve agents and the escalating use of organophosporous insecticides underscore the need to develop effective and safe antidotes against poisoning with these compounds," Albuquerque said.
The study found that galantamine protected animals against the nerve agents soman and sarin, and paraoxon, the active metabolite in the pesticide parathion.
"The only medication currently approved by the (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration to prevent the catastrophic effects of nerve agent poisoning does not protect the brain. This medication, pyridostigmine, doesn't effectively cross the blood-brain barrier," Albuquerque noted.
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