breakthrough animal study shows potential treatment for reversing alzheimer’s symptoms
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while the exact cause of alzheimer’s disease isn’t well understood, researchers know that the brain changes that take place do so because of the build-up of abnormal proteins. these proteins form plaques and tangles, causing damage to nerve cells and leading to symptoms.
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alzheimer’s disease is challenging to treat, with many current therapies revolving around improving symptoms temporarily. now, researchers from auburn university in alabama, in collaboration with the harrison college of pharmacy and the centre for neuroscience initiative, have found a potential new therapy that can reverse the symptoms in the early stages of the disease, improving memory and cognitive decline.
the treatment, currently only tested in mice, utilizes an experimental drug used to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als). the drug, known as troriluzole, works by reducing glutamate levels in the brain, which are often found in high amounts in those showing early signs of cognitive disease.
if the data can be translated into humans, it could act as a potential therapy to prevent further decline in people who are starting to show signs of alzheimer’s disease.
the development of alzheimer’s disease
while the exact cause of alzheimer’s disease isn’t well understood, researchers know that the brain changes that take place do so because of the build-up of abnormal proteins. these proteins form plaques and tangles, causing damage to nerve cells and leading to symptoms.
the two proteins that are seen to cause issues in alzheimer’s disease are beta-amyloid and tau. beta-amyloid plaques build up between nerve cells, and twisted tau fibres end up inside the nerve cells. this double-edged sword of damage that hits nerve cells from both the outside and the inside leads to the symptoms of alzheimer’s disease, such as memory loss, cognitive decline and confusion, behaviour and mood changes, and difficulties with thoughts, language, and daily tasks.
in the early stages, when these proteins begin to accumulate in the brain, levels of glutamate, a neurotransmitter, are often much higher than they should be. this leads to damaging overactivity between nerve cells, a physiological process known as excitotoxicity, which causes cell death.
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research suggests that this excitotoxicity could be an underlying mechanism behind neurodegeneration in dementia-related disease.
the troriluzole study
to perform the study, researchers from auburn university, led by drs. miranda reed and michael gramlich, genetically modified mice so that they could replicate the same signs and symptoms of the early stages of alzheimer’s disease.
the mice in question were shown to experience excitotoxicity caused by excessive glutamate in the brain, the same as in humans who develop alzheimer’s disease. because of the excessive glutamate, the animals replicated the signs and symptoms found in the early stages of alzheimer’s disease.
these mice were given troriluzole, and it reduced levels of glutamate. moreover, after taking the drug, the mice experienced improvements in both memory and learning, which suggests that it can also aid in the maintenance of brain function.
to measure the improvements, the mice were tasked with performing tests that required a strong memory, such as running through mazes. the results showed significant promise because their cognitive functions were completely restored after treatment with troriluzole.
“these findings are promising because they suggest that troriluzole can protect the brain at a fundamental level, starting with molecular changes and resulting in improved cognitive abilities,” dr. reed told scitechdaily. “it’s like repairing an engine before it fails completely.”
the researchers also noted in the article to scitechdaily that this new research “demonstrates that by targeting synaptic activity early, we may be able to prevent or slow the progression of alzheimer’s.”
what this means for future alzheimer’s treatment
even though the results show great promise, it’s important to note that many further studies on how troriluzole works at different stages of the disease are essential to get a clearer picture of how the drug affects alzheimer’s development and progression and at what stages it could be helpful. then, results from those studies will need to be applied to human trials to see if the same effects occur.
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that said, continuing research surrounding new ways to prevent cognitive decline in alzheimer’s disease continues to shed light on research avenues people can take to develop new treatments, preventions, or, potentially, a cure.
“by examining how drug treatments can intervene early in the disease process, we aim to develop therapies that might prevent or even cure alzheimer’s,” dr. reed noted in the article in scitechdaily.
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