University in Alzheimer’s breakthrough

Published: October 27, 2006 | 4960th good news item since 2003

SCIENTISTS in Merseyside may have discovered the first drug ever to tackle the causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

Experts at the University of Liverpool said they are ready to test what could be a breakthrough treatment for Alzheimer’s – on mice bred with a rodent form of the disease.

They have created a new compound, called engineered heparans, made out of a type of sugar which naturally occurs in the body and is normally used to stop blood clots.

Initial findings show it is between 50% and 100% effective at preventing clumps of protein forming in the brain, which disrupt normal brain functions and cause gradual memory loss.

Professor Jerry Turnbull and Dr Ed Yates have led the research at the university’s School of Biological Sciences for the past four years.

They hope their new method could be developed into a drug treatment sufferers can take either in pills, or through an intravenous drip or inhaler, within the next three to 10 years.

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. There are around 412,500 people living with the disease in the UK. That is 55% of all 750,000 dementia cases in this country.

Existing treatments only target the symptoms, which include the gradual decline of a person’s ability to remember, understand, communicate and reason.

Prof Turnbull said: “Our initial research in test tubes showed the treatment was between 90% and 100% effective at inhibiting the growth of these proteins, which are also called plaques.

“Then we did further research on brain cells, mostly from mice, but also some from humans, and we found they are usually at least 50% effective.”

“At the very least, it could slow the disease process down, and therefore prolong survival of normal brain processes, so the person doesn’t lose the ability to think so quickly.

“It could give them five to 10 years more of quality life.”

“At best, it’s possible that it could offer a long-term cure.

“We don’t know yet, but it may give 10-15 years of normal life before the person eventually dies of some other disease or of natural old age.”

Prof Turnbull said because the sugar used, called Heparan Sulphates (HS), is found on nearly every cell of the body, he did not expect any risk of toxic side-effects.

He said the team was ready to test the compound on mice that have been bred with a rodent form of Alzheimer’s, in Leicestershire.

The university has already commissioned a company, IntelliHep Ltd, to research the commercial opportunities for developing the drug.

But clinical trials on humans would have to be carried out before the drug could be marketed, and the whole process could take anywhere from three to 10 years.

He said the sugar is normally used to stop blood clots in patients with deep-vein thrombosis. But researchers have modified it to remove its anti-coagulent qualities.

Clive Ballard, director of research for the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This study is one of several projects examining new ways of targeting Alzheimer’s disease.

“The new approach hopes to treat Alzheimer’s by preventing a build-up of amyloid, the chemical at the core of plaques which scientists suspect cause the disease.

“There is no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but it is an exciting possibility a new treatment for the disease will be developed in the next five years.”

The research, funded by the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Published in Alzheimer and Science & Technology
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