Research shows diabetes drug rosiglitazone improves memory

Rosiglitazone, the active ingredient of GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia, has shown promise as a way to improve cognitive performance in some people with Alzheimer's disease.

Working with genetically engineered mice designed to serve as models for Alzheimer's, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers found that treatment with the anti-insulin-resistance drug rosiglitazone enhanced learning and memory as well as normalized insulin resistance. The scientists believe that the drug produced the response by reducing the negative influence of Alzheimer's on the behavior of a key brain-signaling molecule.

The molecule, called extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), becomes hyperactive both in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and in the mice at a disease stage corresponding to mild cognitive impairment in human Alzheimer's. This excessive activity leads to improper synaptic transmission between neurons, interfering with learning and memory.