Scientists have found a potential new treatment target for Alzheimer’s.
It comes after a novel technique improved cognitive function in mice with the disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be caused by the abnormal build-up of proteins in and around brain cells.
One of these is called amyloid – deposits of which form plaques around brain cells.
Alzheimer’s Research UK said the new study “adds to the growing evidence that repairing the blood brain barrier itself could offer a new way to treat Alzheimer’s” but added that it is too early to say if the method would work in people with Alzheimer’s.
In an early study, researchers induced the removal of amyloid from the brain in mice.
Writing in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, experts from China and Spain described their “novel therapeutic strategy” which uses nanoparticles to target another protein called LRP1 on the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
This method induces a natural mechanism that removes amyloid from the brain.
The scientists said the treatment “significantly reduced” amyloid levels by nearly 45% in mice, and cognitive tests revealed “significant improvements in spatial learning and memory, with performance levels comparable to those of wild-type mice”.
The benefits lasted for up to six months after treatment, they reported.
“This work pioneers a new paradigm in drug design,” the scientists wrote.
The authors said their work “reaffirms the critical role of the blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer’s disease” and “demonstrates that targeting the BBB can make therapeutic interventions significantly more effective”.
Dr Julia Dudley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “In Alzheimer’s disease, the protective blood-brain barrier can become less effective, causing damage to the brain.
“This study showed that using nanoparticles to restore the effective functioning of the blood-brain barrier resulted in the removal of amyloid from the brain in mice.
“It adds to the growing evidence that repairing the blood-brain barrier itself could offer a new way to treat Alzheimer’s.
“It’s too early to say if this method will work in people with Alzheimer’s – this study was carried out in mice, so there will be differences in how the disease develops in people.
“Future research will need to test whether this approach could be effective in treating people with Alzheimer’s.”
She added: “With over one million affected by dementia in the UK, we urgently need to find new treatments for Alzheimer’s and other diseases that cause dementia.
“If we are to treat dementia in the future, we will need a host of different treatments targeting different aspects of the disease.
“This type of research – while still early – is crucial for taking us closer to finding a cure.”
Francesco Aprile, associate professor in biological chemistry in Imperial College London’s Department of Chemistry, said: “The blood-brain barrier protects the brain, but it also makes drug delivery and waste removal more difficult.
“In this mouse study, researchers reprogramme a natural export pathway to help clear amyloid beta from the brain.
“It is quite innovative because instead of simply trying to push drugs in, they enhance one of the brain’s natural pathways to more efficiently remove Alzheimer’s toxic proteins.”
Professor Tara Spires-Jones, director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and group leader in the UK Dementia Research Institute, said: “While the idea of facilitating amyloid beta clearance is interesting and potentially useful… these findings need replication and are a very long way from helping people living with Alzheimer’s disease.”
