Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JADSep 22, 2025

Progress in Alzheimer's disease treatment: A review of drugs that clear aging cells

Longevity & Aging Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Jan 7, 2026

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease currently affects over 50 million people globally.

Therapeutic development for Alzheimer's disease has faced high failure rates due to incomplete understanding of disease mechanisms.
Current drugs primarily manage cognitive symptoms, as there is no known cure to halt disease progression.
Advanced biological age and the accumulation of senescent cells are significant risk factors for Alzheimer's pathology.
Senescent cells contribute to inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's.
Senolytic drugs, like dasatinib and quercetin, have shown potential in animal models by clearing senescent cells and improving Alzheimer's-related outcomes.
Further clinical validation of senolytic interventions is needed to establish their effectiveness for Alzheimer's disease.

Simplified

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading cause of dementia, currently affecting over 50 million people globally. Despite decades of research, therapeutic development has continued to face high failure rates due to an incomplete understanding of the underlying disease mechanisms. Current drugs like rivastigmine focus on managing cognitive symptoms since there is no known cure to halt the disease's progression. However, recent research has suggested that advanced biological age, particularly the accumulation of senescent cells, is the most significant risk factor for AD pathology, and targeting these aging mechanisms may prove more effective in altering the disease progression. Senescent cells accumulate with age, contributing to inflammatory states and neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. Senolytic drugs, such as dasatinib and quercetin (D + Q), have shown promise in animal models by clearing senescent cells, delaying aging-related decline, and improving AD-related outcomes. This literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the therapeutic potential of senolytic interventions for AD by examining the mechanisms of cellular senescence based on evidence of its accumulation in the human brain, critically analyzing the preclinical and clinical trials involving senolytic compounds, and discussing the implications and limitations of this approach. The findings from recent studies indicate that senolytics may pave the way for effective AD treatments, though further clinical validation is needed.

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Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Progress in Alzheimer's disease treatment: A review of drugs that clear aging cells

Abstract

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