DeCure's autonomous Neuro AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Lewy body dementia — screening already-approved drugs against its 25-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleLewy body dementia maps to a 25-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for lewy body dementia is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
chitinase 3 like 1 (CHI3L1) — CHI3L1 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet 2~{s},5~{s}drag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 8R4X · 1.54 Å · ligand (2~{S},5~{S})-4-[1-(4-chloranylpyridin-2-yl)piperidin-4-yl]-5-[(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]-2-methyl-morpholine (XZ0). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of 44 studies covering 22 pharmacological strategies for Lewy body dementia found that donepezil and rivastigmine had beneficial effects on cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. Rivastigmine, but not donepezil, was associated with a greater risk of adverse events. Memantine was well tolerated but showed few benefits. Descriptive summaries suggested some evidence of benefit for galantamine, modafinil, levodopa, rotigotine, clozapine, duloxetine, clonazepam, ramelteon, gabapentin, zonisamide, and yokukansan. Piracetam, amantadine, selegiline, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and citalopram did not appear to be effective. The review noted that high-level evidence was rare and that strategies for autonomic symptoms and caregiver burden had not been investigated.
A 1996 review described dementia with Lewy bodies as an encompassing term for disorders including diffuse Lewy body disease, senile dementia of Lewy body type, and the Lewy body variant of Alzheimer’s disease, and reviewed epidemiological, clinical, neuropathological, biochemical, molecular biological, and therapeutic contributions. A 2013 article noted that the illness may present in different ways, causing misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment, and that it has overlapping features with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease dementia. A 2022 update stated that there are no specific diagnostic methods and that a probable diagnosis is made based on clinical symptoms of fluctuating cognitive impairment, visual hallucinations, and parkinsonism.
The 2015 review concluded that high-level evidence for pharmacological management of Lewy body dementia is rare. The 2022 update confirmed that no specific diagnostic methods exist. What is still missing are large, well-designed trials that stratify patients by disease subtype and symptom profile, and funding to investigate autonomic symptoms and caregiver burden, which the 2015 review noted had not been studied.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
American Journal of Psychiatry · 2015 · 261 citations · open access
Pharmacological Management of Lewy Body Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
AbstractOBJECTIVE: The authors examined research on effects, costs, and patient and caregiver views of pharmacological management strategies for Lewy body dementia. METHOD: Studies were identified through bibliographic databases, trials registers, gray literature, reference lists, and experts. The authors used the search terms "Lewy or parkinson" and "dementia" through March 2015 and used the following inclusion criteria: participants with diagnoses of Lewy body dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, or Parkinson's disease dementia (or participants' caregivers); investigation of pharmacological management strategies; outcome measures and test scores reported. Data extraction and quality assessment were conducted by at least two authors. Meta-analyses were conducted, and when studies could not be combined, summaries were provided. RESULTS: Forty-four studies examining 22 strategies were included in the review. Meta-analysis indicated beneficial effects of donepezil and rivastigmine for cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. Rivastigmine, but not donepezil, was associated with greater risk of adverse events. Meta-analysis of memantine suggested that it is well tolerated but with few benefits. Descriptive summaries provide some evidence of benefits for galantamine, modafinil, levodopa, rotigotine, clozapine, duloxetine, clonazepam, ramelteon, gabapentin, zonisamide, and yokukansan. Piracetam, amantadine, selegiline, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and citalopram do not appear to be effective. CONCLUSIONS: High-level evidence related to pharmacological strategies for managing Lewy body dementia is rare. Strategies for important areas of need in Lewy body dementia, such as autonomic symptoms and caregiver burden, have not been investigated, nor have the views of patients and caregivers about pharmacological strategies.
Current Opinion in Neurology · 1996 · 37 citations
Dementia with Lewy bodies
AbstractDementia with Lewy bodies is a generic term which was proposed at the first International Workshop on Lewy Body Dementia (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1995). It is an all encompassing term that includes various types of disorder such as diffuse Lewy body disease, senile dementia of Lewy body type, and Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease. Epidemiological, clinical, neuropathological, biochemical, molecular biological, and therapeutic contributions to the understanding of dementia with Lewy bodies are reviewed.
International journal of Nutrition Pharmacology Neurological Diseases · 2013 · 2 citations
Dementia with Lewy bodies: Enigmatic presentation
AbstractIllness may present clinically in different ways causing misdiagnosis of the case and inappropriate treatment; an example of this is dementia with Lewy bodies. This neurodegenerative disorder has overlapping features with both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease dementia, which tends to confuse the clinician to arrive at the right diagnosis. It is important that clinicians update their knowledge of the diagnostic criteria of dementia with Lewy bodies in order to provide suitable pharmacological and non-pharmacological management for its cognitive, neuropsychiatric, motor and sleep disturbances without causing distressing side effects by inappropriate drug prescription. This article will describe a case of dementia with Lewy bodies with literature review.
Updates in diagnosis and treatment of dementia with Lewy body
AbstractEglė Kymantaitė¹ ¹Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine Vilnius, Lithuania Abstract Dementia with Lewy body (DLB) is one of the alpha-synucleopathies. The disease is characterized by fluctuating cognitive impairment along with visual hallucinations and symptoms of parkinsonism. Based on clinical symptoms, a probable diagnosis of an DLB is made. There are no specific diagnostic methods. Although […]
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
