Archive 1992–2014

Objectives. The aim of this study is to review a potential role of dimebon, the first-generation antihistamine, in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Review. Alzheimer 's disease causes neuronal damage in the CNS leading to memory and thinking impairments as well as to behavior change. Since the currently used medications can neitherprevent AD nor reverse its conseąuences, there is a great need for new pharmaceu-ticals for AD. One of such drugs is dimebon, an oral medication that in preclinical trials turned out to prevent neuronal cell death in patients with AD and Huntington 's disease. Now it is being tested as a potential treatment for mild and moderate stage Alzheimer 's disease, in phase 3 clinical trial named Connections Study. Dimebon action is different from that of any of the currently approved AD medications - the drug probably stabilizes mitochondrial function, thus preventing neuronal cell death.