A British-Italian joint project has led to the development of a promising new drug aimed at treating Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages, it has been announced.
So far the drug has been tested successfully on laboratory mice.
Researchers hope it will have few enough side-effects to be given to people who start to suffer mild memory loss, showing the early stages of dementia.
The drug has been developed at Lancaster University, UK, Ulster University and at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, with backing from Alzheimer’s Research UK.
The success of the laboratory studies has been reported in the journal PLoS One.
The researchers say the drug cut the number of plaques in the brain by a third.
It works by targeting the protein amyloid-beta, which clusters together to form the plaques, damaging brain cells.
Researcher Professor David Allsop said: "When we got the test results back, we were highly encouraged. The amount of plaque in the brain had been reduced by a third and this could be improved if we gave a larger dose of the drug, because at this stage, we don’t know what the optimal dose is."
He added: "Many people who are mildly forgetful may go on to develop the disease because these senile plaques start forming years before any symptoms manifest themselves.
"The ultimate aim is to give the drug at that stage to stop any more damage to the brain, before it’s too late."
Dr Eric Karran, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: "These are promising early-stage results, and several years more work will be required to assess the potential of this approach."
A Novel Retro-Inverso Peptide Inhibitor Reduces Amyloid Deposition, Oxidation and Inflammation and Stimulates Neurogenesis in the APPswe/PS1?E9 Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease PLoS One 31 January 2013 [abstract]
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