Will Skulachev's ions protect you from Alzheimer's disease?
Mitochondrial antioxidants have slowed the development of Alzheimer's disease
According to the head of the Department of molecular mechanisms of Aging, Professor Natalia Kolosova, the study was carried out on a unique genetic model – a line of prematurely aging OXYS rats created at ICIG SB RAS. Accelerated aging of the brain of these animals is manifested by characteristic behavioral changes, impaired learning and memory abilities as a result of neurodegenerative changes in the brain, which have been confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. In their study, the authors showed that these disorders are based on the increased accumulation of beta-amyloid, beta-amyloid precursor protein, tau protein, as well as phosphorylated tau protein, which are characteristic signs of Alzheimer's disease.
Experimental animals received plastoquinonyl-decyl-triphenylphosphonium (SkQ1), a substance developed within the framework of the Skulachev Ions project, which is an antioxidant capable of selectively penetrating mitochondria. According to scientists, taking SkQ1 at the age of 1.5 to 23 months at a dose of 250 nmol per kg of body weight per day slowed down the decline in motor research activity and spatial memory not only in OXYS rats, but also in healthy Wistar rats that made up the control group.
It is fundamentally important, Kolosova notes, that SkQ1 prevented the pathological accumulation of beta-amyloid, a precursor of beta-amyloid, tau protein and its hyperphosphorylation in OXYS rats and in control group animals. The results of the study indicate the prospects of using the OXYS rat line as an animal model of Alzheimer's disease, as well as the high potential of the mitochondrial antioxidant SkQ1 as a possible means of prevention and treatment of this disease.
This is not the first work devoted to the possibilities of using mitochondrial antioxidants as a means of preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease. In 2010, the same group of researchers led by Natalia Kolosova showed that SkQ1 slows down the development of memory, learning and motor activity disorders in rats with neurodegenerative diseases. In 2013, Nadezhda Kapay and co-authors proved that mitochondrial antioxidants SkQ1 and SkQR1 prevent disturbances in the electrical activity of neurons caused by clusters of beta-amyloid that form in brain cells in Alzheimer's disease.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru25.09.2013