Sunday, December 25, 2016

Alzheimer’s disease BREAKTHROUGH: Brussels sprouts vitamin could be KEY to treatment: VIDEO

Alzheimer's disease treatment: Experts say Brussels sprouts could hold the key to treatment

A supercharged version of the acid derived from the Christmas dinner vegetable is now the basis of new research aimed at developing a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease - the most common for of dementia.

Experts at the University of Aberdeen are working on a synthetic version of the beneficial acid created from vitamin A – a vitamin your body can get from eating a number of vegetables, including carrots and Brussels sprouts – which they hope may be used to treat neurological disorders.

In the body  A is turned into retinoic acid, which then interacts with specific receptors in the brain and plays a role in the development of the human central nervous system.

Professor Peter McCaffery, who is leading the project said: “We are basically trying to create a massively amplified version of what vitamin A already does for the body.

“By exploiting the natural consequences of retinoic acid by creating a synthetic alternative, we hope to be able to create a new therapeutic which could be used to help people with Alzheimer’s disease.

“There are other projects of a similar nature but they are focussed on different receptors and we are confident that our compound will prove to be more successful.

“Added to that, our unique screening process is an exciting innovation which should increase the efficiency of the process and could have implications beyond this particular project.”

Experts argue the Vitamin is particularly important for the eye and brain.

In the adult  it is thought retinoic acid plays a different, more ‘focussed’ role and there are suggestions it could affect neural disorders, both degenerative and psychiatric.

Now, University of Aberdeen experts, working with the University of Durham and chemical development company High Force Research are set to begin a new , £250,000 project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The researchers have designed synthetic versions of retinoic acid that interact with the body’s natural receptors in the brain in an even more powerful way than regular retinoic acid.

The team  to progress the research to develop drugs – primarily for Alzheimer’s but potentially Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Another unique aspect of the Aberdeen-led study is the method used to screen the new synthetic compounds making the process more efficient.

With the cost of drug discovery rising and the time to develop new drugs increasing, this new process is another important factor that contributed to the project being identified for further funding.

Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by SUNDAYEXPRESS

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length

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