New Alzheimer’s research edges closer to treatment & prevention
pharmafile | December 7, 2016 | News story | Research and Development | Alzheimer's
A new study has shed light on the possible prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease thanks to findings centred on aquaporin-4, a membrane protein in the brain.
Aquaporin-4 makes up part of the glymphatic system, the central nervous system’s waste pathway whose purpose is to wash away protein build-up in the brain with cerebral-spinal fluid. An accumulation of these proteins is a common symptom of Alzheimer’s.
A team of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) researchers found, through an examination of 79 medically-donated brains, that in the brains of younger people and those older than 60 without Alzheimer’s, aquaporin-4 remained effective in its purpose, lining the blood vessels of the brain. However, in the brain of those with Alzheimer’s, the protein appeared disorganised, which may highlight a connection between the disease and an inability to wash away potential nerve cell-destroying waste like amyloid beta.
“It suggests that aquaporin-4 might be a useful target in preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease,” said senior author Jeffrey Iliff, an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine. “This system, and the failure of the system, may be one of many things that goes wrong in people with Alzheimer’s disease.”
However, Iliff was clear that there is much more work to be done: “We aren’t under any illusion that if we could just fix this one thing, then we’d be able to cure Alzheimer’s Disease.”
Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia worldwide and is the sixth leading cause of death in the US.
Matt Fellows
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