Researchers publishing in Neurotherapeutics conducted a Phase 1 trial evaluating the senolytic combination dasatinib and quercetin (D+Q) in five early-stage Alzheimer’s patients. Over a 12-week intermittent dosing regimen, investigators assessed amyloid and tau pathology alongside inflammatory and transcriptomic signatures. The study revealed no statistically significant changes in key Alzheimer’s biomarkers, highlighting translational challenges for senescence-targeting therapies.
Key points
- Intermittent dosing of dasatinib (100 mg) and quercetin (1 g) administered to five early-stage Alzheimer’s patients over 12 weeks.
- Multi-modal biomarker assessment included amyloid-β and tau quantification, inflammatory cytokine panels, lipidomic shifts, and PBMC transcriptomics.
- No statistically significant changes detected in Alzheimer’s biomarkers or SASP factors despite confirmed CNS penetration of dasatinib.
Why it matters: Null results underscore challenges in translating senolytics to treat neurodegeneration, urging development of more potent aging-targeted therapies.
Q&A
- What are senolytics?
- How do dasatinib and quercetin act together?
- Why measure amyloid and tau biomarkers?
- What does PBMC transcriptomic analysis reveal?
