Alzheimer's Drug Has Anti-Ageing Effects

An elixir of youth may be on the horizon after an experimental Alzheimer's drug had a surprise side-effect of making old mice 'young'.

A team of researchers at the Salk Institute have said that they have developed a new experimental drug to treat the Alzheimer's disease that is aimed at reducing the effects of aging.

The new medicine was so successful at rolling back the years in lab rodents that human trials are already being planned for next year.

While all is well when testing mice to prove the drug's benefits, Currais and Schubert note the importance of eventually moving on to human clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease.

When mice were treated with the drug, called J147, it boosted memory and cognition and made blood vessels in the brain healthier.

J147 was initially synthesised by using cell-based screens against old-age-associated brain toxicities. 

Scientists never expected the therapy to slow the clock on key aspects of ageing but hailed them a "welcome benefit" if the drug turns out to be safe for use by Alzheimer's patients.

When mice were treated with the drug, called J147, it boosted memory and cognition and made blood vessels in the brain healthier. Researchers found old mice that received J147 performed better on memory and cognition tests and had sharper motor skills than they had prior to treatment.

They tested three groups of a mice - one young, a second old and the third old but fed J147 as they aged.

The mice that were given the medication showed fewer signs of Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies had shown that J147 could be effective in helping prevent and reverse Alzheimer's in mice who had a certain form of the disease, but who did not represent the majority of Alzheimer's cases. 

They found that the old mice that received J147 performed better on memory and other tests for cognition and also displayed more robust motor movements.

Due to the extensive amount of data collected before the study, the team demonstrated how parts of the J147 mice gene expression and metabolism were similar to those of the younger mice group, including increased energy metabolism, reduced brain inflammation, and reduced levels of oxidized fatty acids in the brain. 

Another notable effect was that J147 prevented the leakage of blood from the microvessels in the brains of old mice.

"If proven safe and effective for Alzheimer's, the apparent anti-aging effect of J147 would be a welcome benefit", adds Schubert. "Damaged blood vessels are a common feature of ageing in general, and in Alzheimer's, it is frequently much worse", said Currais.

Recent developments in Alzheimer's research has led to the engineering of drugs aimed at destroying amyloid plaque in the brain, plaques which build over time.