New UK research gives hope for Alzheimer’s treatments

Scientific research may sometimes be portrayed as a series of breakthroughs, but in fact it is a gradual and labour-intensive process, especially when it comes to developing new drugs. However, this week’s announcement of an exciting result from Leicester University in the UK may well represent a turning point in the fight against degenerative brain disease – one of the world’s most important healthcare challenges.

As the populations of industrialised nations get older, the economic and social impact of dementia is increasing. One in nine seniors in the US and one in twelve in the UK are estimated to have some form of dementia today, and the economic costs alone are staggering. These have been estimated as $203 billion in the US and £23 billion in the UK in 2012, and are projected to rise as the number of older people in the population increases. This is why both the US and the UK have identified dementia as a key topic for scientific research. For example, in March 2012, Prime Minister Cameron launched the Dementia Challenge, which includes a significant research component.

This week’s announcement from a team at the University of Leicester sheds light on an important avenue for research into a range of conditions that lead to dementia. The team, which is funded by the UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC), focused on natural defence mechanisms which cause brain cells to die in so-called ‘neurodegenerative’ diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. In all these cases, cells respond to a build-up of misshapen proteins by switching off the production of normal proteins. But since these normal proteins are necessary for the cells to survive, these cells start to die, leading to inhibited muscle control, memory loss, and eventually death. The MRC team used mice with prion disease – which is also caused by a build-up of misshapen proteins in brain cells – to test a new, orally-administered compound. They found that the compound tuned the production of normal proteins back on, stopping cell death and preventing dementia-like symptoms from occurring. Their results are reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

It’s important to note that the team stopped short of referring to this new compound as a ‘drug’. Although it significantly reduced brain cell death, it also caused serious side effects such as high blood sugar and weight loss, and at this early stage the prospect of a drug that is safe and effective for humans is still a long way off. But the fact that many leading scientists in this field have described the research as a ‘landmark’ shows the promise that this line of enquiry may hold.

The Science & Innovation Network counts research into dementia and the biology of ageing as key priorities for US-UK collaboration. An example of this is a current project linking up teams from leading US and UK institutions that conduct research in this field – Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Edinburgh – to identify opportunities for closer partnership between the two countries.