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Heart drug may prevent, reverse Alzheimer’s Disease
A new discovery spells hope for patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
A research team led by Dr. S.R. Wayne Chen, PhD, has made an exciting breakthrough with the potential to prevent and reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
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The CSM team discovered that limitingthe open time of the ryanodine receptor,a channel which acts like a gateway to cellslocated in the heart and brain, reverses andprevents the progression of Alzheimer’sdisease in animal models. They also identifieda drug which limits the opening of thischannel, interrupting the disease process.
Dr. Chen’s team used a portion of an existingdrug used for heart patients to treat mice modelswith Alzheimer’s symptoms. After one monthof treatment, the memory loss and cognitiveimpairments in these models disappeared.
“The effect was quite amazing,” says Chen,the Heart & Stroke Chair in CardiovascularResearch. “We couldn’t tell the drug-treateddisease models and the healthy models apart.”
Previous research has shown the progressionof Alzheimer’s disease is driven by a viciouscycle involving a protein that makes neuronsmore active than usual. These neurons, inturn, produce more of the protein. However,it wasn’t clear why that happens, nor werethere effective treatments to stop the cycle.
“The significance of identifying a clinically used drug that acts on a defined target to provide anti-Alzheimer’s disease benefits can’t be overstated,” says Chen, a member of CSM’s Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. Dr. Jinjing Yao, PhD, a student of Chen’s, is the first author of the study.
This research – supported by philanthropic donations from the Alvin and Mona Libin Foundation, Canadian Pacific Railway Company and Sam and Beverley Mozell – is potentially highly impactful, as more than 500,000 Canadians live with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, suffering from memory loss and other cognitive impairments that negatively impact quality of live. The results of the groundbreaking study were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Cell Reports.
While there are many steps to be taken before this finding could lead to a clinical trial, Chen is optimistic about the future of this research and its potential to improve the lives of patients living with Alzheimer’s around the world.
