Nilvadipine is a calcium channel blocker

Calcium channel blocker

A calcium channel blocker is a chemical that disrupts the movement of calcium through calcium channels.CCB drugs devised to target neurons are used as antiepileptics. However, the most widespread clinical usage of calcium channel blockers is to decrease blood pressure in patients with...

 (CCB) used for the treatment of hypertension

Hypertension

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...

 and chronic major cerebral artery occlusion

Vascular occlusion

Vascular occlusion is a sudden blockage of a blood vessel, usually with a clot. It differs from thrombosis in that it can be used to describe any form of blockage, not just one formed by a clot. When it occurs in a major vein, it can, in some cases, cause deep vein thrombosis. The condition is...

.

Pathohistochemical studies have revealed that the volume of the infarction in the middle cerebral artery occlusion model could be decreased by nilvadipine.

Nilvadipine was tested in clinical trial as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

 in Ireland by the Roskamp Institute

Roskamp Institute

The ', founded by the Robert Roskamp Foundation in Sarasota, Florida in 2003, is a non-profit biomedical research center with an emphasis on Alzheimer's disease. It also operates a memory clinic and clinical research offices in Tampa, Florida...

, Florida, USA and Trinity College, Ireland.

Following this study, an international research consortium led by Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) in may 2011 announced the selection for funding of a large-scale European clinical trial of Nilvadipine, an Alzheimer’s disease drug developed at the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota. More than 500 Alzheimer’s patients will participate in the multicenter Phase III clinical trial designed to study the effectiveness of Nilvadipine.

For more information on Nilvadipine and Alzheimer's disease please visit Roskamp Website