Cancer drug may help treat Alzheimer's

By Shelby D Burns, Wed, March 14, 2012

People with Alzheimer’s have nerve cells that contain tangles. These are distorted clumps of protein tau. Normally, tau helps stabilize the microtubules with a cell. They transport nutrients from one end of the cell to the other. It may be that the breakdown of normal tau function causes the microtubules to break down and lead to nerve cell damage for people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Kurt Brunden, PhD, and colleagues treated mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms with EpoD. The drug prevented microtubule breakdown and cognitive difficulties.

For this new study, the treated older mice that had advanced symptoms of Alzheimer’s. These mice already had the tau tangles and memory deficits. The administered EpoD for three months. The EpoD mice, when compared to the untreated mice, had reduced formation of tau tangles in the brain. They also outperformed animals that did not receive the drug.

“These results suggest that EpoD might have therapeutic benefit in Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative diseases, such as frontotemporal lobar degeneration, where abnormal tau tangles are present,” said Brunden.

EpoD easily crosses the brain barrier unlike other medications. Only a low dose was required and there were no side effects.

“EpoD readily enters the brain, where it appears to persist for a much longer time than in the blood. This may explain why low doses were both effective and safe in the mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease,” explained Brunden.

Source: Society for Neuroscience, MedicalNewsToday

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