Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center report a breakthrough in treatment to halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
The treatment focuses on a new therapeutic target that researchers say can potentially lead to a new way to stop the progressive disease, which ultimately robs victims of their memory and is always fatal.
Results from the study funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Alzheimers Association appear in the Journal of Neuroscience.
There are multiple, neurotoxic, disease-causing pathways that converge on the neutral sphingomyelinase that can cause neuronal loss in the brain of an Alzheimers patient, said Kalipada Pahan, PhD, neurological researcher and lead investigator at Rush. If we can stop the activation of the neutral sphingomylinase, we may be able to stop memory loss and the progression of Alzheimers disease.
Plaques and tangles
In the brain of a patient with Alzheimers disease, two abnormal structures called plaques and tangles are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells. While neurons die, other brain cells like astroglia and microglia do not.
These cells become activated and glial cell activation plays a key role in the destruction of neurons. However, the molecular mechanisms by which activated glial cells can kill neurons have been poorly understood until now.
Understanding how the disease process works is important in identifying effective approaches to protect the brain and stop the progression of Alzheimers disease, said Pahan. The results of this study are very promising and our next step is to translate these findings to the clinic.
The next step, Pahan says, is development of a clinical medication that would target the neutral sphingomyelinase, perhaps allowing doctors to halt memory loss in Alzheimers disease patients.
Alzheimers disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with Alzheimers, symptoms first appear after age 60.
Alzheimers disease is the most common cause of dementia among older people. It affects as many as 5.3 million Americans.
