Bacterial Product Isolated in Soil from Easter Island Rescues Learning, Memory in Alzheimer's Mouse

[The Straight Story]

Bacterial Product Isolated in Soil from Easter Island Rescues Learning, Memory in Alzheimer's Mouse Model

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2010) — Rapamycin, a drug that keeps the immune system from attacking transplanted organs, may have another exciting use: fighting Alzheimer's disease. The drug -- a bacterial product first isolated in soil from Easter Island -- rescued learning and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's, a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported on Feb. 23.

The study, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offers the first evidence that the drug is able to reverse Alzheimer's-like deficits in an animal model, said the senior author, Salvatore Oddo, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.

Tissue evidence

Rapamycin also reduced lesions in the brains of the mice, the team found. The lesions are similar to those seen in the brains of people who died with Alzheimer's.

"Our findings may have a profound clinical implication," said Dr. Oddo, who is a member of the university's Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. "Because rapamycin is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drug, a clinical trial using it as an anti-Alzheimer's disease therapy could be started fairly quickly."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100224165259.htm

[elfin]

1. Thanks - check in with that site often

Missed this fascinating article --- or did I see it and then forgot?????

Good thing the Chile quake tsunami didn't eradicate the island.

[Oregone]

2. Careful with that stuff! Not for humans

Itll make people's heads huge and hard. Let the mice have their snacks

[arcadian]

3. ...uhhh whaaaaaaa?

trying to figure out what this story is about from the thread title is near impossible. :rofl:

[Cirque du So-What]

4. This is an instance where I see nothing wrong with starting human trials ASAP

Once the disease has progressed, there's nothing resembling 'quality of life' anyway.