Posted on 12/02/2021 3:16:50 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Researchers have discovered that the protein α-endosulfine (ENSA) is involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Studies in mice showed that eliminating this protein entirely or using drugs to block its function reduced physical changes in the brain associated with the disease and improved memory. Drug therapy that aims to block ENSA activity could be a more effective treatment than what is currently available, as well as being cheaper.
The hallmark of Alzheimer's disease in the brain is the accumulation of amyloid β peptide (Aβ).
They discovered reduced levels of the enzyme neprilysin, which is caused by reduced levels of the hormone somatostatin. Levels of both neprilysin and somatostatin go down as we age, which can explain why Alzheimer's disease usually strikes older people.
The new study focused on how somatostatin controls neprilysin levels in the brain. Testing showed that ENSA reduced neprilysin activity and that it rose to abnormally high levels in the brains of mice that lacked somatostatin. This means that somatostatin normally keeps ENSA in check, which in turn keeps neprilsyin levels high, allowing Aβ to be destroyed before it accumulates.
What exactly is ENSA doing in the brain? Tests showed that ENSA blocks a potassium channel in the hippocampus, a part of the brain needed for making and recalling memories. "We reasoned that helping the channel stay open would combat the excess ENSA that we observed in Alzheimer's disease." To test this theory, the researchers fed the model mice with diazoxide—a drug that activates the KATP channel—and tested their memory. They found that while the untreated Alzheimer's disease model mice exhibited their characteristically poor memory, the treated model mice performed just as well as normal mice. A look at the brains of the treated mice showed that they lacked the hallmark Aβ plaques.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Don’t worry. They’ll find a way to make it expensive and require everyone to take it.
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Cheap? We can’t have that! /s/
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Alzh ping
Cheap drugs pay no kickbacks.
This will be kicked to the gutter of history.
Brains age and falter just like every other part of our bodies. Will there be a cure? Probably not. Alzheimer’s has become an industry and people are being scared to death with it. Interesting book - The Myth of Alzheimer’s. No, he isn’t saying it doesn’t exist. He says it’s been hyped, and he has years as a neurology practitioner.
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