Alzheimer's treatment: landmark study gives hope for simple pill
A landmark British study has raised the prospect of a pill that could treat brain diseases such as Alzheimer's by halting the death of neurons. The research, performed on sick mice, is at a very early stage and it could be a decade or more before any medicine is developed. But experts say the results are highly significant, and one predicted future generations would see the findings as a historic turning point.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) team focused on the root cause of many degenerative brain diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's – abnormally shaped proteins that stick together in clumps and fibres. When enough misshapen protein builds up in the brain, it can trigger a reaction that results in the death of nerve cells.
Other approaches have sought to stop or limit the accumulation of the abnormal protein, whose structure is folded the wrong way. Instead, the MRC team targeted the harmful way brain cells react to misfolded proteins. Using a drug injected into the stomachs of mice, they flipped a cellular switch from off to on to prevent neurons dying.
Five weeks after treatment, one group of mice remained free of symptoms such as memory loss, impaired reflexes or limb dragging. They also lived longer than untreated animals with the same disease. The mice suffered serious side effects, including weight loss and raised blood sugar, and the scientists say human trials are a long way off.
But they also believe the research demonstrates in principle the possibility of developing a pill that can protect the brain from neurodegenerative disease.
The research, reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine, duplicated previous results achieved by the same team by means of genetic engineering... read more:
