Author Topic: This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain  (Read 563 times)

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Online mountaineer

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This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
« on: November 17, 2022, 12:24:21 pm »
This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
Study in cells and mice suggests that the variant APOE4 affects the all-important insulation around nerve cells.
Elie Dolgin
Nov. 16, 2022
Quote
No gene variant is a bigger risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease than one called APOE4. But exactly how the gene spurs brain damage has been a mystery.

A study1 has now linked APOE4 with faulty cholesterol processing in the brain, which in turn leads to defects in the insulating sheaths that surround nerve fibres and facilitate their electrical activity. Preliminary results hint that these changes could cause memory and learning deficits. And the work suggests that drugs that restore the brain’s cholesterol processing could treat the disease.

“This fits in with the picture that cholesterol needs to be in the right place,” says Gregory Thatcher, a chemical biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson. ...

The mouse findings dovetail with the experience of a person with Alzheimer’s who took a similar formulation of cyclodextrin under a special drug-access programme, as reported in 2020 by the drug’s manufacturer, Cyclo Therapeutics in Gainesville, Florida. The individual’s cognitive functions remained stable over 18 months of treatment, the company says. ...

“This study highlights the importance of cholesterol in the brain,” says Irina Pikuleva, a biochemist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, “and we now need to try all available strategies to target brain cholesterol.”
Nature


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Offline Kamaji

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Re: This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2022, 01:00:14 pm »
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And the work suggests that drugs that restore the brain’s cholesterol processing could treat the disease.

If true, that would be absolutely astounding.

Offline GtHawk

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Re: This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2022, 04:24:09 pm »
If true, that would be absolutely astounding.
Cyclodextrins seem to be very beneficial and may very well be a key to treating  Alzheimer on the one hand but they do have risks too, yes as all drugs do.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2017.00355/full

Offline Kamaji

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Re: This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2022, 04:26:51 pm »
Cyclodextrins seem to be very beneficial and may very well be a key to treating  Alzheimer on the one hand but they do have risks too, yes as all drugs do.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2017.00355/full

All drugs have risks, of course.  However, I have seen first-hand the ravages of Alzheimer's, and unless the risks of the drug are profound, I would think that on balance it would be a risk worth taking.

A deeper question is whether, if someone is found early on to have the gene in question, can these same techniques be used to develop a prophylactic medication that would prevent Alzheimer's from developing in the first place.

Offline GtHawk

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Re: This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2022, 04:44:37 pm »
All drugs have risks, of course.  However, I have seen first-hand the ravages of Alzheimer's, and unless the risks of the drug are profound, I would think that on balance it would be a risk worth taking.

A deeper question is whether, if someone is found early on to have the gene in question, can these same techniques be used to develop a prophylactic medication that would prevent Alzheimer's from developing in the first place.
I too had family suffer greatly with Alzheimer, but depending on the persons age I wonder if severe hearing loss would be worth the risk. Like everyone else decisions must be made in life and they aren't always easy.

Online mountaineer

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Re: This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
« Reply #5 on: November 17, 2022, 05:58:29 pm »
I hope this is a real breakthrough.
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Offline Texas Yellow Rose

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Re: This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2022, 07:53:15 pm »
 :bkmk: