The discovery of the first chemical to prevent the death of brain tissue in a neurodegenerative disease has been hailed as the "turning point" in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.
More work is needed to develop a drug that could be taken by patients.
But scientists say a resulting medicine could treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and other diseases. In tests on mice, the Medical Research Council showed all brain cell death from prion disease could be prevented.
But scientists say a resulting medicine could treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and other diseases. In tests on mice, the Medical Research Council showed all brain cell death from prion disease could be prevented.
Prof Roger Morris, from King's College London, said: "This finding, I suspect, will be judged by history as a turning point in the search for medicines to control and prevent Alzheimer's disease."
He told the BBC a cure for Alzheimer's was not imminent but: "I'm very excited, it's the first proof in any living animal that you can delay neurodegeneration.
"The world won't change tomorrow, but this is a landmark study."
Cells starveThe research team at the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit, based at the University of Leicester, focused on the natural defense mechanisms built into brain cells.
When a virus hijacks a brain cell
it leads to a build-up of viral proteins. Cells respond by shutting
down nearly all protein production in order to halt the virus's spread.
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Dear Bob,
ReplyDeleteMis-folded proteins are the signature of the Creutzfeldt Jakob
agent and Variant forms for which Dr Stanley Pruisner was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Mis-folded proteins are not high on the list of bad actors in the cascade of events which lead to Alzheimer's Disease where a pitched battle between the Tau and Amyloid campus is ongoing.
That is not to say the mis-folded proteins are out of the picture, but rather to say that mis-folded proteins have not received much Press so far. The Journey towards unraveling the antecedents of neuronal deganeration continues.
My view is that infection INSIDE of Neurons and Intraneuronal infection which jumps across synapses to systematically deconstruct entire Networks of neurons is the root cause of the Infection "subset" of Alzheimer's disease. Similar events occur in other "Neurodegenerative" human conditions: Parkinson's, ALS, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Cortico-basal Degeneration, Pick's disease, and Fronto-temporal Dementias ( 5 subtypes noted to date), and Cortical Lewy body dementia.
Hybrid conditions : Dementias with associated movement disorders are also embraced and included in this construct. There is for example Parkinson's with Dementia, and the Parkinsonian Dementia of Guam for
example.
Infection of human brain over long periods of time could produce Dementia-and Syphilis with General paresis is the poster child for this category.
Rabies is the poster child for infections which jump across synapses to travel from the bite site to the brain. West Nile also does this synaptic jumping behavior. The List of trans-synaptic transmission is long and I summarized all of these infection models in my year 2006 paper of trans-synaptic transmission of Neuroborreliosis and Braak Stage progressions in Alzheimer's as an example of Infection inside of neurons moving from the base of the brain to the Cortex. See my publications in Medical Hypotheses [an Elsevier publication]
Best to you as always,
Alan
Alan B. MacDonald, MD FCAP FASCP, October 13, 2013