Exploring Potential Medications for Alzheimer's Disease with Psychosis by Integrating Drug Target Information into Deep Learning Models: A Data-Driven Approach.

Journal: International journal of molecular sciences
PMID:

Abstract

Approximately 50% of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients develop psychotic symptoms, leading to a subtype known as psychosis in AD (AD + P), which is associated with accelerated cognitive decline compared to AD without psychosis. Currently, no FDA-approved medication specifically addresses AD + P. This study aims to improve psychosis predictions and identify potential therapeutic agents using the DeepBiomarker deep learning model by incorporating drug-target interactions. Electronic health records from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were analyzed to predict psychosis within three months of AD diagnosis. AD + P patients were classified as those with either a formal psychosis diagnosis or antipsychotic prescriptions post-AD diagnosis. Two approaches were employed as follows: (1) a drug-focused method using individual medications and (2) a target-focused method pooling medications by shared targets. The updated DeepBiomarker model achieved an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) above 0.90 for psychosis prediction. A drug-focused analysis identified gabapentin, amlodipine, levothyroxine, and others as potentially beneficial. A target-focused analysis highlighted significant proteins, including integrins, calcium channels, and tyrosine hydroxylase, confirming several medications linked to these targets. Integrating drug-target information into predictive models improves the identification of medications for AD + P risk reduction, offering a promising strategy for therapeutic development.

Authors

  • Oshin Miranda
    Computational Chemical Genomics Screening Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences/School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
  • Chen Jiang
    Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
  • Xiguang Qi
    Computational Chemical Genomics Screening Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences/School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
  • Julia Kofler
    Division of Neuropathology, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
  • Robert A Sweet
    Alzheimer Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
  • Lirong Wang
    Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Computational Chemical Genomics Screening Center, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; NIDA National Center of Excellence for Computational Drug Abuse Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. Electronic address: liw30@pitt.edu.