Neuronal loss in Alzheimer's is reduced

Brisbane, Australia -- Australian neuroscientists say they might have found a new method of reducing neuronal loss in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

Researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute, located at the University of Queensland, said memory loss in Alzheimer's disease can be attributed to several factors. Those include a buildup of the neuro-toxin Amyloid beta and a corresponding degeneration of a specific population of nerve cells in the basal forebrain.

Queensland Brain Institute neuroscientist Dr. Elizabeth Coulson said her research team discovered a molecule known as p75 neurotrophin receptor was necessary for Amyloid beta to cause nerve cell degeneration in the basal forebrain. The researchers found -- in both cultured cells and in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease – it was possible to completely prevent Amyloid beta toxicity by removing the p75 cell death receptor.

Coulson has patented molecules that can block p75 and is ready to begin testing them in animal models of Alzheimer's disease.

"If such therapy is successful, it probably wouldn't cure this multifaceted disease," she said. "But it would be a significant improvement on what is currently available for Alzheimer's disease patients."

The research recently appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.