May 07, 2015 07:46 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

A new epilepsy drug could be used as treatment for Alzheimer's disease, according to a recent study.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that anticonvulsant drugs -- drugs that prevent or reduce the severity of seizures -- represent a promising treatment that deserve further human studies. Their findings reinforce the theory that brain hyperexcitability plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease.

Previous studies have tested the effects of the widely used anticonvulsant drug levetiracetam in both rodent models as well as two clinical trials in patients with early signs of Alzheimer's disease. The findings suggest it may slow some of the symptoms of the disease, including memory loss.

The current study, conducted by Dr. Haakon Nygaard, the Fipke Professor in Alzheimer's, tested the effects of brivaracetam, an anticonvulsant drug still in clinical development for epilepsy, and closely related to levetiracetam. Since it is 10 times more potent than levetiracetam, it can be used at lower dosages.

They found that brivaracetam completely reversed memory loss in a rodent model of Alzheimer's disease.

"Now we have many different research groups using antiepileptic drugs that engage the same target, and all point to a therapeutic effect in both Alzheimer's disease models, and patients with the disease,"  Nygaard said. "Both of these drugs are likely to be tested in larger clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease over the next five to 10 years."

Nygaard said larger clinical studies in human subjects will be needed before we can determine whether anticonvulsant therapy will be part of our future therapeutic arsenal against Alzheimer's.

The findings are detailed in the journal Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.

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