ArticleDrug news & perspectives2010
The rise and fall of Dimebon.
Article in Drug news & perspectives, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03683394 (Multidomain Alzheimers Risk Reduction Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 48 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Multidomain Alzheimers Risk Reduction Study (MARRS) Pilot
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preventing loss of independence through exercise (PLIÉ): a pilot clinical trial in older adults with dementia.PloS one · 2015Trial
- The Mental Activity and eXercise (MAX) trial: a randomized controlled trial to enhance cognitive function in older adults.JAMA internal medicine · 2013Trial
- PolyfunctionalizedInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial ecosystem restoration in Alzheimer's disease: from mechanisms to multi-target therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Latrepirdine (Dimebon), a potent 5-HTFrontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Targeting Oligodendrocyte Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease: a New Frontier for Drug Repurposing with Antihistamines and Serotonin Receptor Agonists.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2025Review
- Revolutionising Neurological Therapeutics: Investigating Drug Repurposing Strategies.CNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- Bioavailability as Proof to Authorize the Clinical Testing of Neurodegenerative Drugs-Protocols and Advice for the FDA to Meet the ALS Act Vision.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- From Pathogenesis to Therapeutics: A Review of 150 Years of Huntington's Disease Research.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Multitargeting the Action of 5-HTInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Computational analyses of mechanism of action (MoA): data, methods and integration.RSC chemical biology · 2022Review
- Therapeutic drug repositioning with special emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases: Threats and issues.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Review
- Mitochondria-Targeted Therapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease: The Good, the Bad, the Potential.Antioxidants & redox signaling · 2021Review
- Clinical pharmacokinetic study of latrepirdine via in silico sublingual administration.In silico pharmacology · 2021Article
- Molecular Pathogenesis and Interventional Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease: Promises and Pitfalls.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2020Review
- Review
- Systematic Multi-Domain Alzheimer's Risk Reduction Trial (SMARRT): Study Protocol.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2019Article
- Drug repurposing: progress, challenges and recommendations.Nature reviews. Drug discovery · 2019Review
- Mitochondrial Pharmacology of Dimebon (Latrepirdine) Calls for a New Look at its Possible Therapeutic Potential in Alzheimer's Disease.Aging and disease · 2018Review
- Old Drugs as New Treatments for Neurodegenerative Diseases.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Dimebon (latrepirdine) was developed and used in Russia as an over-the-counter oral antihistamine for allergy treatment. In the early 1990s, Dimebon was characterized as a low-affinity NMDA receptor antagonist by Dr. Sergey Bachurin and his colleagues. An initial small-scale, open-label trial of Dimebon in 14 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients demonstrated potential efficacy. Dimebon was then patented for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and licensed by Medivation. Extremely promising results were obtained in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II AD trial in 183 patients; however, a phase II trial of Dimebon in 91 Huntington's disease patients was much less successful. Recently, a phase III AD trial of Dimebon in 598 patients failed to result in any significant improvement in primary or secondary outcomes. The failure of Dimebon may be in large part due to insufficient understanding of its mechanism of action. The NMDA receptor blocking activity of Dimebon is too weak to be physiologically relevant, while the proposed "novel mitochondrial mechanism of action" lacks credible scientific evidence or a molecular target. Independent studies indicate that the clinical effects of Dimebon most likely result from inhibition of histamine H₁ and serotonin 5-HT₆ receptors. Careful preclinical studies of novel potential therapies are needed to minimize chances of making similar costly mistakes in the future.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.