DRUG REPURPOSING OF CEFTRIAXONE FOR ITS NEUROPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY IN ALZHEIMERS DISEASE MODEL

Ramzaniya Nargees K., Shahma Davood, Vismaya Babu K. K.*, Fathimath Sana Thayyil, Nishma C. T.

Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of diseases characterized by neuronal degeneration leading to dementia, movement disabilities and disturbing overall quality of life. Alzheimer's disease, AD is one of the neurological disorder majorly effecting the elderly population. The pathophysiological mechanisms include beta amyloid plague and tau protein accumulation causing neurofibrillary tangles. Even though many drugs are available to treat AD there are drawbacks like limited clinical efficacy, adverse drug reactions, decreases blood brain barrier penetration issues associated with the drugs. Multifactorial nature of the disease also is a reason for the failure of existing drugs in some patients. Drug repurposing is a promising tool for drug discovery due to the decreased time required for its safety and efficacy testing rendering it a good option for different targets. Here Ceftriaxone is studied for its neuroprotective activity. MTT assay is performed on neuroblastoma cells treated with beta amyloid. Ceftriaxone in increasing concentrations showed good neuroprotective profile making it a good candidate for anti Alzheimer's drug.