HIV Drug Could Treat Dementia?
HIV Drug Could Treat Dementia
Recently scientists found that a long approved drug by GSK to treat HIV might have the potential to treat dementia and Hungtinton’s disease (HD). The researchers tried using the drug on mice with dementia and HD and found that it reduced the amount of misfolded proteins that are involved in the diseases.
Dementia is technically a symptom of many diseases and is mainly associated with loss of memory and cognitive decline and HD is one such disease that has dementia as a symptom. You may have heard of the tau protein before as the leading theorized cause of Alzheimer’s, in fact, in many diseases under the dementia umbrella it is the known protein whose misfolding is most closely correlated with the disease's progression. This is also true in the case of HD.
With the HIV drug, the scientists were able to show that mice treated with the drug have lower levels of misfolded tau protein compared to their untreated counterparts. The reasoning here was that dementia affected mice that had a receptor called CCR5 knocked out showed lower buildup of the tau protein. CCR5 is expressed on many types of immune cells but knocking it out can help microglia can help them respond to dementia better. The HIV virus can bind to CCR5 and the drug that was used in these experiments works by blocking that binding. So it was reasoned that blocking CCR5 in microglia can help treat dementia and HD.
The scientists found that this was indeed the case and blocking CCR5 allowed microglia to clear misfolded proteins with greater efficacy. However, there is a lot more that still needs to be studied before taking the drug forward for this second application. Since CCR5 is expressed on many types of immune cells, it is possible that this may have several other side effects. However, since the drug is already approved for clinical use in the context of HIV, it is already shown to be safe and expanding the use case of an already approved drug is far easier than developing a completely new one.
California Approves $150M in Emergency Loans for Struggling Hospitals
California lawmakers have approved legislation granting $150 million in interest-free loans to financially distressed hospitals across the state, with additional support expected to be included in the state’s upcoming budget. The Distressed Hospital Loan Program, established under AB-112, aims to support non-profit and public hospitals that are struggling to stay open or reopen after closure. Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign off on the bill, which has the potential to impact healthcare facilities across California.
Governor Newsom has instructed the State Departments of Health Care Services and Public Heatlh to “develop a metholody” to target facilities that are small, rural, critical access hospitals, or those treating a disproportionate share of Medicaid patients. The intention is to exclude hospitals that are part of a system with more than two hospitals, investor-owned hospitals, and freestanding inpatient psychiatric hospitals. The loans are to be repaid within six years, with monthly repayments commencing 18 months after the loan is received.
The necessity of these loans arises from the ongoing financial struggles faced by many such hospitals and healthcare facilities in remote areas post-pandemic. Without financial assistance, these hospitals risk closure, and that would leave their communities without access to crucial healthcare services.
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