Oral administration of idebenone, a stimulator of NGF synthesis, recovers reduced NGF content in aged rat brain.

The relationship between nerve growth factor (NGF) and senile dementia of the Alzheimer type is of interest. We demonstrate here that the oral administration of idebenone, a stimulator of NGF synthesis in vitro, produced recovery of reduced NGF content in aged rat brain. Twenty-one-day successive administration of idebenone produced significant recovery of reduced NGF content in the frontal cortex and parietal cortex of aged rats. These results suggest that NGF content in the brain is low in aged rats and that oral administration of idebenone leads to a recovery of this reduction.