A possible effect of montelukast on neurological aging examined by the use of register data

• Main Authors: Aigner, L. (Author), Eggen, A.E (Author), Engdahl, B. (Author), Grinde, B. (Author), Schirmer, H. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH 2021
• Subjects: Acetates; acetic acid; acetylsalicylic acid; adult; aged; Aged; aging; Aging; animal; Animals; antiinfective agent; Anti-inflammatory medication; antivirus agent; Article; cognition; controlled study; cyclopropane derivative; Cyclopropanes; degenerative disease; Dementia; female; finger tapping test; glucocorticoid; grip strength; human; Humans; Leukotriene; Leukotriene Antagonists; leukotriene receptor blocking agent; major clinical study; male; memory test; montelukast; Montelukast; Neurological decline; nonsteroid antiinflammatory agent; Norway; observational study; prescription; Prescription database; quinoline derivative; Quinolines; rat; Rats; register; sulfide; Sulfides
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Background The leukotriene receptor antagonist montelukast has been shown to rejuvenate aged brains in rats; however, data on humans are still scarce. Objective To investigate if montelukast may alleviate degenerative neurological changes using a register data. Setting Norwegian registry data analyses. Method The present observational study was based on data from the Norwegian Prescription Database and the Tromsø Study. The former has information regarding the use of prescription medicine; the latter includes tests for brain function such as subjective memory and finger-tapping. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to see how the use of various medications correlated with the test results, correcting for likely confounders. Main outcome measure Results on seven different tests considered relevant for neurological health were used as outcome. Results Previous use of montelukast correlated with improved scores on cognitive or neurological functioning (F = 2.20, p = 0.03 in a multivariate test). A range of other medications were tested with the same algorithm, including drugs acting on the immune system, but none of them correlated with (overall) significantly improved test results. Conclusion The present data suggest that montelukast may alleviate degenerative neurological changes associated with human aging. © 2020, The Author(s).