Posted on 10/15/2009 7:52:05 AM PDT by decimon
New research in the FASEB Journal suggests that manipulation of the brain's own immune cells with IL-6 could lead to reversal of Alzheimer's disease pathology
A breakthrough discovery by scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, may lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's Disease that actually removes amyloid plaques—considered a hallmark of the disease—from patients' brains. This discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), is based on the unexpected finding that when the brain's immune cells (microglia) are activated by the interleukin-6 protein (IL-6), they actually remove plaques instead of causing them or making them worse. The research was performed in a model of Alzheimer's disease established in mice.
"Our study highlights the notion that manipulating the brain's immune response could be translated into clinically tolerated regimens for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases," said Pritam Das, co-author of the study, from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL.
Das and colleagues made this unexpected discovery when they initially set out to prove that the activation of microgila trigger inflammation, making the disease worse. Their hypothesis was that microglia would attempt to remove the plaques, but would be unable to do so, and in the process cause excessive inflammation. To the surprise of the researchers, when microglia were activated by IL-6, they cleared the plaques from the brains.
To do this, the researchers over-expressed IL-6 in the brains of newborn mice that had yet to develop any amyloid plaques, as well in mice with pre-existing plaques. Using somatic brain transgenesis technology, scientists analyzed the effect of IL-6 on brain neuro-inflammation and plaque deposition. In both groups of mice, the presence of IL-6 lead to the clearance of amyloid plaques from the brain. Researchers then set out to determine exactly how IL-6 worked to clear the plaques and discovered that the inflammation induced by IL-6 directed the microglia to express proteins that removed the plaques. This research suggests that manipulating the brain's own immune cells through inflammatory mediators could lead to new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease.
"This model is as close to human pathology as animal models get. These results give us an exciting lead to newer, more effective treatments of Alzheimer's disease," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "This study demonstrates that investment in experimental biology is the best way to approach the challenge posed by an aging population to the cost of health care."
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Receive monthly highlights from The FASEB Journal by e-mail. Sign up at http://www.faseb.org/fasebjournalreaders.htm. The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The journal has been recognized by the Special Libraries Association as one of the top 100 most influential biomedical journals of the past century and is the most cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information. FASEB comprises 22 nonprofit societies with more than 80,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB advances health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to its member societies and collaborative advocacy.
Details: Paramita Chakrabarty, Karen Jansen-West, Amanda Beccard, Carolina Ceballos-Diaz, Yona Levites, Christophe Verbeeck, Abba C. Zubair, Dennis Dickson, Todd E. Golde, and Pritam Das. Massive gliosis induced by interleukin-6 suppresses A deposition in vivo: evidence against inflammation as a driving force for amyloid deposition. FASEB J. doi:10.1096/fj.09-141754 ; http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/fj.09-141754v2
Too bad Obamacare will make all that a moot point. Just withhold fluids and nutrients and the “problem” will be “solved.” Never waste a good crisis.
The new procedure will be too expensive for 0bamaCare.
There is also research showing that L-carnitine prevents the accumulation of amyloid plaque. The best dietary source of it is beef.
Who pays for this type of research under ObamaCare???
(Answer: no one)
That’s precisely my point. Not to mention that researchers won’t be looking into developing these types of treatments if no one can make any money from them. But, thank goodness we’ll still have politically-driven, government-funded research - and we all know how effective that is.
Thanks for the link. Alzheimers is in my family, yet hope it is not in my future. I drink lots of coffee in a day, so it is good to know it may help.
I bought it at VitaCost.com.
It was the cheapest I found.
If caffeine will do it then I should be protected for the next few hundred years.
Thanks for the info.
Remember No-Doz? I think it was 100% caffeine.
I am curious how many freepers are supplementing with No-Doz, or with generic tablets of caffeine -- have any of you seen any newer discussions about this?
I was surprised to learn on another website, one dealing with side effects from drugs, that overuse of No-Doz is associated with diarrhea, which surprised me, because even though I've read lots about caffeine, I'd never come across that as a normal side effect of too much caffeine.
I haven't been able to get past 2 tablets of either the generic variety or of the brand name No-Doz. Two pills is my current tolerance. Each pill contains 200 mg. of caffeine, and I also drink several cups of coffee each day.
Although I'm a long term coffee drinker, the very first time I took a No-Doz, shortly after the research with mice & caffeine & Alzheimer's Disease came out, I was UP ALL NIGHT LONG, wide wide awake & alert.
So, for a while I started breaking up the hard tablets, so that they'd have a better chance of dissolving and entering my system long before 3 am.
Are any of you now using pill-form caffeine as a result of this research?
Thank you.
BUMP for later reference
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2306792/posts
Posting to this thread for quick cross reference of another thread on this same topic.
I should be safe for the next few lifetimes.
http://www.the-natural-path.com/alpha-lipoic-acid.html
There's no results at google for the word 'caffeine' nor the phrase 'alpha lipoic' at "The Natural Path dot COM.
I pinged you to the other messagethread where research is in that scientists have recently reversed Alzheimer's Disease in lab animals by using on them what is the equivalent in human terms of 5 or 6 cups of coffee per day, depending upon the brew & roast.
That's hard to say -- different coffee beans, different coffee roasts, different methods of preparing the coffee can result in significantly different amounts of caffeine.
I was absolutely shocked, as a life long coffee drinker, to stay WIDE awake ALL NIGHT hyper-ALERT and unable to sleep the first day that I took one little No-Doz tablet, which simply contains 200 mg. caffeine... supposedly the amount in 1 or 2 cups of coffee, depending upon the brew.
That website doesn’t say caffeine is dangerous. I pay fairly close attention to that kind of research and have seen nothing on caffeine. Good luck in your quest.
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