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Australian scientists say they have identified a toxin which
plays a key role in the onset of Alzheimer's, raising hope that
a drug targeting the toxin could be developed to slow the
degenerative brain disease.
The toxin, called quinolinic acid, kills nerve cells in the
brain, leading to dysfunction and death, the scientists said.
"Quinolinic acid may not be the cause of Alzheimer's disease,
but it plays a key role in its progression," Alzheimer's
researcher Dr Karen Cullen from the University of Sydney said in
a statement. "It's the smoking gun, if you like."
"While we won't be able to prevent people from getting
Alzheimer's disease, we may eventually, with the use of drugs,
be able to slow down the progression."
Alzheimer's is a brain-destroying disease that affects millions
of people around the world. As the population gets steadily
older, experts estimate numbers will balloon to as many as 16
million in the United States alone by 2015.
More than 200,000 people have Alzheimer's disease in Australia
and the number is expected to rise to 730,000 by 2050.
Outward symptoms start with memory loss, which progresses to
complete helplessness as brain cells are destroyed. In the
brain, neurons die as messy plaques and tangles of protein form.
The Alzheimer's research team from Sydney's St Vincent's
Hospital, the University of Sydney and Japan's Hokkaido
University found quinolinic acid neurotoxicity in the brains of
dementia patients.
Quinolinic acid is part of a biochemical pathway called the
kynurenine pathway which is also found in other brain disorders,
including Huntington's disease and schizophrenia.
The scientists said there were several drugs in an advanced
stage of development for other conditions which targeted this
pathway and that these drugs, which still need to be tested,
could be used to complement other treatments for Alzheimer's.
About the author:
Baron Grove http://www.refridgerator.net
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