Posted on 04/02/2010 1:18:10 PM PDT by neverdem
Bacterial Product Isolated in Soil from Easter Island Rescues Learning, Memory in Alzheimer's Mouse Model
Rapamycin, a drug that keeps the immune system from attacking transplanted organs, may have another exciting use: fighting Alzheimer's disease. The drug -- a bacterial product first isolated in soil from Easter Island -- rescued learning and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's, a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported on Feb. 23.
The study, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offers the first evidence that the drug is able to reverse Alzheimer's-like deficits in an animal model, said the senior author, Salvatore Oddo, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
Tissue evidence
Rapamycin also reduced lesions in the brains of the mice, the team found. The lesions are similar to those seen in the brains of people who died with Alzheimer's.
"Our findings may have a profound clinical implication," said Dr. Oddo, who is a member of the university's Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. "Because rapamycin is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drug, a clinical trial using it as an anti-Alzheimer's disease therapy could be started fairly quickly."
Last year three institutions, including the Barshop Institute, announced that rapamycin extended the life span of aged research mice at each of the sites. It was the first pharmacologic intervention shown to extend life in an animal model of aging...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
MOLECULAR INTERPLAY BETWEEN MTOR, Aβ AND TAU: EFFECTS ON COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS MTOR means the mammalian target of rapamycin.
I may be too late for me.............
It...........
I don’t know if that is the right term for it.
An autoimmune disorder leaves the body attacking itself, even if it might have been set that way by a foreign invader. In this case, if an antibiotic rids the plaques, it’s not killing an invader, but the result of our response to it.
It would seem that the plaques are not our bodies attacking our brains. However, the antibiotic may work via a method that has nothing to do with bacterial death.
No, you had that right to begin with if you have Alzheimer’s.
Had what right?...........
A drug that extends life span prevents Alzheimer's deficits (rapamycin)
I couldn't find the original article at the Public Library of Science. The immunosuppressant rapamycin appears designed to fool the beta amyloid, aka abeta and amyloid beta, of the innate immune system.
Infection Defense May Spur Alzheimer’s
The Alzheimer's Disease-Associated Amyloid β-Protein Is an Antimicrobial Peptide
Y ou had it right the first time.
This looks like a big advance, no?
This is very interesting indeed. Let’s hope that this bacterial product really does help people who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Maybe, but taking immunosuppressants can have adverse effects, usually infections.
Thanks.
What these articles don't go into is dosage and length of treatment when used against alzheimer's.
Good stuff!
Ping...(Thanks, neverdem!)
What was that again?
Excellent! I really need some of that memory stuff...
Could be good news in the long run...
I'd bet you could suspend rapamycin long enough to clobber any infection and still derived an excellent therapeutic effect against slow-as-snail-shell-growth Alzheimers.
This is fascinating stuff- thanks for posting.
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