Results Provide Boost for Drugs in the Pipeline Targeting the Gene

July 11, 2012 -- Can Alzheimer's disease be prevented?

A new study shows that researchers might be on the right path to someday make it happen. New research has identified a genetic mutation that may protect against both Alzheimer's disease and age-related declines in thinking and memory. And future drug treatments already in the pipeline may help prevent against both.

Amyloid protein plaques in the brain are seen in people with Alzheimer's disease. A gene for amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) plays a key role in the formation of these plaques. Researchers from Reykjavik, Iceland, found that a mutation in this gene may help protect against Alzheimer's disease and age-related mental decline.

This mutation is rare, but, when present, confers about a 40% reduction in amyloid plaque-forming proteins. What's more, study participants between 80 to 100 years old without Alzheimer's disease who carry this mutation have better mental function than those without the mutation, the study shows.

The findings appear in Nature.

Alzheimer's disease affects memory and thinking. Symptoms usually develop slowly and worsen with time. One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer's disease, making it the most common type of dementia in the U.S., according to the Alzheimer's Association.

U.S. Alzheimer's disease researchers are enthused about the new findings and what they may mean for prevention.

"This is an extraordinary paper," Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, says in an email. He is the Mount Sinai chair in Alzheimer's disease research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "This provides some of the strongest evidence ever that amyloid is the right target in Alzheimer's."

Many researchers are developing treatments that target amyloid protein. "Amyloid researchers the world over couldn't have asked for a better morale booster," he says. "This is a great gift to those at high risk for future development of Alzheimer's disease because this means our prevention trials are aiming at the right target."

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Gene May Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease

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