Sleeping More Reduces Risk Of Alzheimer's. Study: Biomarker could predict Alzheimer’s disease. New Treatment Target for Alzheimer’s. By Traci Pedersen Associate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 12, 2012 A new link has been identified between short-term memory and a protein called beta-arrestin that could blaze a new path toward the therapeutic treatment of neurological disorders, especially Alzheimer’s disease. The discovery was made by biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside. This is the first study that has linked beta-arrestin to Alzheimer’s and learning and memory. Beta-arrestin is expressed in various cells of the body, including the hippocampus, an area of the brain connected to learning and the formation of short-term memories. In the hippocampus, new connections called synapses continue to form between neurons. However, since brains have only a limited capacity, other old connections must disassemble through a process called long-term depression (LTD) in order for new synapses to form.
Source: University of California-Riverside APA Reference Pedersen, T. (2012). Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms Reversed in Mice. A nearly 13-year-old skin cancer drug rapidly alleviates molecular signs of Alzheimer's disease and improves brain function, according to the results of a new mouse study being hailed as extremely promising. Early-stage human clinical trials could begin within months. In the study, published online February 9 by Science, researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and colleagues used mice genetically engineered to exhibit some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's. Most notably, the mice produced amyloid beta peptides—toxic protein fragments that gum up neurons and lead to cell death—and showed signs of forgetfulness. Amyloid beta (red areas) peptides clear from the brain of an Alzheimer's mouse after three days of treatment with a cancer drug (right image).
Source: AAAS/Science The Case Western team, led by Gary Landreth, decided to try the drug bexarotene (Targretin), approved in 1999 for cutaneous T cell lymphomas. Other Alzheimer's researchers hail the work. Alzheimer’s discovery could curb spread of disease, researchers say. Same genes linked to early- and late-onset Alzheimer's disease. The same gene mutations linked to inherited, early-onset Alzheimer's disease have been found in people with the more common late-onset form of the illness. The discovery by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may lead doctors and researchers to change the way Alzheimer's disease is classified. They report their findings Feb. 1 in the online journal PLoS One. "We probably shouldn't think of early-onset disease as inherited and late-onset as sporadic because sporadic cases and familial clustering occur in both age groups," says senior investigator Alison M. The researchers used next-generation DNA sequencing to analyze genes linked to dementia.
"We found an increase in rare variants in the Alzheimer's genes in families where four or more members were affected with late-onset disease," says Goate, the Samuel and Mae S. "With next-generation sequencing technology, it's now possible to sequence all of these genes at the same time," Cruchaga says. Ayurveda plant raises Alzheimer’s hope. New Delhi, Jan. 31: Ashwagandha, a plant used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine, cleaned out abnormal protein deposits in the brain and reversed damage and behavioural changes observed in Alzheimer’s disease when tested on mice, a team of Indian scientists announced today. The scientists have shown through experiments on mice that extracts of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) can reverse within 30 days the abnormal accumulation of a protein, called beta-amyloid plaque, in the brain that is linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) at Manesar in Haryana fed genetically-engineered mice, which had symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease, a daily oral dose of a cocktail of chemicals called withanosides and withanolides, extracted from Ashwagandha. The extracts appeared to boost the synthesis of a special protein in the liver that acts as a chaperone and helps remove amyloid plaque from the brain. “The evidence with mice looks good.