Cholesterol drug may cure learning disability
Published: November 8, 2005
A recent research carried out at the University of California, Los Angeles shows that a common drug,lovastatin, used to lower cholestrol levels in the body may also be able to cure one of the most common type of learning disabilities called Neurofibromatosis type I, more commonly known as NF1.
A team of researchers headed by neurobiologist Alcino Silva while carrying out tests on mice, found that the NF1 condition is caused by a single defective gene, either by mutation or by being inherited and which over-produces a molecule called p21Ras. This leads to defects in memory, motor coordination and spatial learning and which can also cause the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Lovastatin is a drug which has already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and has been used for the past 20 years. It was found that the drug blocks certain fats that are needed by the Ras to function and thus reverses the over-production of Ras and this, the researcher says, has given them reason to be optimistic, as the findings show that the cognitive deficits associated with NF1 are not irreversible developmental defects as was previously thought.
“We think we have a real, fundamental reason to be optimistic. This is a drug that affects a key learning and memory pathway, and completely rescues the most common genetic cause for learning disabilities.” New Scientist quoted researcher, Alcino, as saying.
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