This new drug may help to combat Alzheimer's disease

Zee Media Bureau

New York: A study has found an experimental drug that may help combat Alzheimer's disease.

The drug has the potential to prevent inflammation, remove abnormal protein clumps in the brain. It also helps to restore memory in the patients suffering from the neurodegenerative disease.

Development of abnormal protein clumps called amyloid plaques and tangled bundles of fibers in the brain causes inflammation in the brain and damage to the neurons. The damage leads to memory loss, confusion and dementia.

The findings found that the new drug known as NTRX-07 appears to reduce the inflammation in the brain, while preserving neurons and regenerative cells in the brain.

Lead researcher Mohamed Naguib, Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in Ohio, US said "This drug may reduce inflammation in the brain, which is linked to Alzheimer's disease".

The new drug improved removal of abnormal amyloid plaques and improved memory performance and other cognitive skills.

Naguib said, "NTRX-07 uses a different mechanism than many other Alzheimer's drugs currently available, as it targets the cause of the disease, not just the symptoms".

In the study conducted on mice, NTRX-07 was found to target CB2 receptors -- receptors on the surface of microglia cells or immune cells that typically remove dangerous amyloid plaques in the brain.

The mice treated with NTRX-07 also showed an increase in the levels of SOX2 -- protein that helps new brain cells to develop and protect the brain in people with Alzheimer's disease.

In contrast, mice treated with a placebo showed decreased levels of SOX2, active inflammation in the brain, poor removal of amyloid plaques, and poor memory performance.

The study was presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2016 annual meeting in Chicago, recently.  

(With IANS inputs)