DALLAS: A study using mice has uncovered a possible new cause of Alzheimer’s disease and suggests a drug currently being investigated in human clinical trials to treat cancer that could prevent the illness.
The research suggests that with Alzheimer’s disease certain immune cells that normally protect the brain begin to abnormally consume an important nutrient called arginine.
By blocking this process using the drug difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), memory loss and a build-up of sticky proteins known as brain plaques, were prevented.
The study used a type of mouse in which a number of important genes were swapped to make the animal’s immune system more similar to a human’s…