DIABETES DRUG BOOSTS MEMORY Hopes of new breakthrough in battle against Alzheimer’s
DIABETES drugs could hold the key to preventing dementia and to reversing memory loss.
Scientists today hailed tests showing treatment with them could have a dramatic effect on patients suffering from diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Studies showed they led to fewer deposits of the toxic protein amyloid, a hallmark of the condition which blights 850,000 people in the UK.
It has led to fresh hope that a game-changing treatment to tackle brain-wasting diseases could be imminent. Lead
researcher Professor Christian Holscher, from Lancaster University, believes the therapy involving drugs designed to regulate blood sugar “holds clear promise”.
He said: “These very promising outcomes demonstrate the efficacy of these novel multiple receptor drugs that were originally developed to treat Type 2 but have shown consistent protective effects in several studies.
“Here we show that a novel triple receptor drug shows promise as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s.”
The joint British and Chinese study tested the experimental treatment on mice with features of Alzheimer’s.
Results indicated it improved aspects of memory and thinking and helped to limit destructive changes associated with the incurable condition.
Both Alzheimer’s and diabetes involve changes in glucose metabolism and scientists think alterations in sufferers’ brains could be caused by excess glucose, a hallmark of diabetes.
Abnormally high blood sugar levels, or hyperglycemia, is a characteristic of diabetes and obesity. Scientists already know glucose can cause cell damage.
Type 2 diabetes, where the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin or the cells do not react to insulin, is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s and has been implicated in the progression of the disease as impaired insulin has been linked to brain degeneration. John Hardy, professor of neuroscience at University College London, said the results were interesting.
“However, it should be noted that several other drugs have shown positive results in mice models of Alzheimer’s and then failed in human trials,” he added.
The results were “at best the first step in demonstrating that a drug might work in man”.
Dr Mark Dallas, lecturer in cellular and molecular neuroscience at the University of Reading, said: “This study highlights the potential of a diabetes drug to suppress some common dementia hallmarks in a mouse model.
“One hopes these preliminary results, combined with the additional knowledge gained from other dementia clinical trials into diabetic medicines, will translate into improved outcomes for people living with dementia.”
Dr David Reynolds, chief scientific officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “It is great to see encouraging findings emerging from research, and this study broadens efforts towards a treatment that could tackle damage to the brain in the disease.” Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development, said: “With no new treatments in nearly 15 years, we need to find new ways of tackling Alzheimer’s. It’s imperative that we explore whether drugs developed to treat other conditions can benefit people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
“This approach to research could make it much quicker to get promising new drugs to the people who need them.” The findings were published in the journal Brain
Research.