Medicines for Alzheimer's disease already on the way

Scientists from Edinburgh University of St. Andrews (University of St Andrews)
find a way of blocking the processes that lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease - reports Daily Telegraph.

Scottish scientists together with their American colleagues have made a big step towards rede development mechanisms of Alzheimer's - degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, which gradually decreases intellectual activity and the brain suffers memory. Only in the United States of Alzheimer's disease affects 4 million people in Britain - half a million, mostly elderly. The disease is characterized by deposit amyloid protein in the brain - as the surrounding neurons education plaque, and within neurons in the formation of interlocking neyrofibrillyarnyh - these processes kill brain cells. On
cellular level essence of the disease is that amyloid «closes» at the castle enzyme, called amyloid-beta alcohol- dehydrogenase (Amyloid Beta Alcohol Dehydrogenase, ABAD), blocking its action.

Scientists managed to develop a chemical compound that prevents amyloid protein interact with brain cells. To understand how amyloid introduces himself in the box at St. Andrews have created three-dimensional model of ABAD. When the mechanism was understood, was a chemical trap - peptide, which attracted amyloid protein and «offered» him to join him, but not to ABAD. If amyloid has been introduced into the structure of ABAD, then the trap helped to be disconnected from the amyloid protein molecules ABAD and introduced into the structure of peptide.

Scientists have studied opportunities peptidnoy traps on laboratory mice and found that those animals that suffer from memory after memory of the drug seriously improved. Also they have recovered the ability to learn.

According to Frank Gunn-Moore (Dr Frank Gunn-Moore), a professor of biology at St. Andrews, «We have shown that it is possible to stop some signs of the development of Alzheimer's disease». The study, he said, provides a possible key to the treatment of disease, especially - in the early stages. However, according to Gunn-Moore, you will need to at least three years to convert peptide trap in the real drug, and several more years - to test its ability to humans.

The Fund support for research of Alzheimer's (Alzheimer's Research Trust) has been called the results of the study «exciting». Dr. Susanne Sorensen (Dr Susanne Sorensen), director of the Research Society of the fight against Alzheimer's disease (Alzheimer's Society), said that the results of the study added an important piece of knowledge to razgadke nature of the disease and offer a possible way of treatment.