18/5/2015
promising results from a new mouse study
suggest there may be a way to halt the formation of a faulty protein that clogs
up the brain in people with Alzheimer's disease.
Writing in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the
University of California-San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and Cenna
Biosciences, Inc. describe how they identified compounds that block the
production of beta-amyloid peptides in mice.
The team suggests if the findings translate to
humans, then the most promising of the new compounds - which they refer to as
P8 - could be given to people at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease long
before the signs of dementia appear.
Lead
author NazneenDewji, an associate adjunct professor in the Department of
Medicine at UCSD, says:
"We are blocking the actual production of
beta-amyloid in a new way. It's very promising because it means that, in
principle, we can stop the disease in its tracks."