Drug combo ACX-02 boosts brain waste clearance by about 10% in humans

A US research team tested a drug combination called ACX-02 to enhance the brain’s glymphatic clearance during sleep.

ACX-02 combined dexmedetomidine with midodrine to preserve blood pressure while increasing deep sleep.

In single sleep sessions, amyloid-beta clearance rose by 8.45% and tau clearance by 9.66% compared with baseline measurements.

Blood pressure and cerebral vessel status did not differ from placebo while clearance increased, marking the first human demonstration of pharmacologic glymphatic enhancement.