A cure for Alzheimer's disease and old age in one pill?
A side effect of the prototype drug for Alzheimer's disease was rejuvenation
Vyacheslav Golovanov, GeekTimes
At the Jonas Salk Institute of Biology (California, USA), biologists conducted tests on mice of a new prototype of a drug for Alzheimer's disease (Experimental drug targeting Alzheimer's disease shows anti-aging effects). A drug called J147 demonstrated a dramatic improvement in the condition of old mice whose brains were susceptible to a disease that coincided with neurodegeneration of the human brain.
Currently, neither the causes nor the course of Alzheimer's disease are known for sure. Symptoms of the disease are short-term memory disorder, speech and cognitive impairment. The key feature of the disease is the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in brain tissues. Previous drug candidates developed over the past 20 years have tried to act specifically on the plaques formed, but have not shown positive results.
A team of biologists from the Salk Institute decided to try a new approach: to act not on plaques, but on the causes of brain aging. More precisely, one of the known reasons is the accumulation of toxins that destroy blood vessels in the brain. During the research, the substance J147 was synthesized.
In previous studies, biologists have already managed not only to prevent, but also to reverse the symptoms of memory loss in mice with a hereditary form of Alzheimer's disease. However, only 1% of people suffering from this form of the disease have it. For everyone else, the main risk factor remains aging of the brain and the entire body. Therefore, it was necessary to conduct a study on a special variety of rapidly aging mice, whose condition would closely approach the common form of the disease.
To measure the condition of the observed mice, scientists observed, in particular, the expression of genes and the course of animal metabolism. The test mice were divided into three categories – young, old, and old taking a new drug.
The mice taking the drug showed better results in cognitive and memory tests, and also demonstrated better coordination of movements. In addition, the brain condition of these mice was much better than that of those who were not exposed to the drug. Better metabolic rates, a decrease in the number of inflammatory processes and a decrease in the content of oxidized fatty acids in the brain were noted.
In addition, there was significantly less damage to the microvessels in the brains of these mice – and this is a typical symptom of an aging brain, significantly amplified in the presence of Alzheimer's disease.
The authors of the work believe that it makes a breakthrough in the fight against the disease, and that the only way to demonstrate the clinical value of the new drug will be to conduct tests on humans. "If it is proved that the drug J147 safely and effectively fights Alzheimer's disease, then its anti–aging effect will be a pleasant advantage," said Professor David Schubert, head of the Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology at the Institute.
Article by Currais et al. A comprehensive multiomics approach towards understanding the relationship between aging and dementia is published in the open access journal Aging – VM.Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
16.11.2015