( September 21, 2010 ) - CASLPA Recognizes September 21 As World Alzheimer’s Day, Canada

About 500,000 Canadians live with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada. With Canadian seniors expected to account for one-quarter of the population in three decades, and one in 11 having a form of dementia, approximately 50 per cent of Canadian families will be coping with a family member with dementia.Speech-language pathologists and audiologists, represented by the national professional association the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA), have an important role to play in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“There is a close connection between communication and cognitive aging in healthy older adults and those who have combined impairments such as hearing loss and dementia,” says CASLPA member and audiologist Kathy Pichora-Fuller. “Speech-language pathologists and audiologists must develop new roles in partnership with other health professionals to improve the early identification, diagnosis and treatment of cognitive impairments at all stages.”

Alzheimer’s is not just a disease of the elderly and can start in your early 40s, according to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada. Early indicators include memory loss, difficulty performing familiar tasks and problems with language and communication.

“Hearing loss is found in up to 90 percent of cases with dementia,” says Pichora-Fuller. “If hearing loss and other communication disorders are not addressed, they can lead to withdrawal from social interaction. Good communication function and social interaction in combination with an active lifestyle are key to preventing or slowing cognitive declines that can develop into dementias such as Alzheimer’s.”

According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, 36 percent of Canadians know someone with Alzheimer’s disease. If someone you know has dementia, CASLPA suggests consulting a speech-language pathologist and/or audiologist to find out how to help prevent or alleviate communication problems.

Source:
CASLPA

Article URL - http://bit.ly/aXKe2B

( September 20, 2010 ) - Age-Related Mental Decline May Be Less Than Thought

THURSDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) — All mental abilities appear to decline with advancing age, but the decreases aren’t as sharp as some research has suggested, a new study contends.In the study, Timothy Salthouse, a University of Virginia psychologist, analyzed scores from 1,616 adults, aged 18 to 80, who completed tests of five key cognitive (or “thinking”) abilities: reasoning, spatial visualization, episodic memory, perceptual speed, and vocabulary.

The data from the participants in the Virginia Cognitive Aging Project were collected over an average test-retest interval of 2.5 years.

“There is now convincing evidence that even vocabulary knowledge and what’s called ‘crystallized intelligence’ decline at older ages,” Salthouse said in an American Psychological Association news release.

However, age-related declines in mental ability are smaller than previously believed, he said.

In his research, Salthouse took into account that the results of studies that repeatedly test people over a period of time could be affected by the fact that repeat test-takers become familiar with tests or testing strategies, and therefore do better as time goes on.

By factoring out what he called the “practice effects,” Salthouse was better able to determine how the participants actually aged mentally, and found that while younger adults’ mental abilities rose over time, older adults’ abilities declined over time, but the changes were small in either case.

“Longitudinal comparisons in people of different ages may be even more complicated because the amount of longitudinal change may be partially determined by the individual’s learning ability at a given age,” he noted.

The study was published in a recent issue of the journal Neuropsychology.

– Robert Preidt

Article URL - http://bit.ly/aM3AcB

( September 17, 2010 ) - Why Older People Are Forgetful

Brain Tissue Changes May Play a Role in Forgetfulness, Researchers SayBy Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Sept. 15, 2010 — Abnormal brain tissue changes called brain lesions may be more at fault than previously thought in forgetfulness in older people, new research shows.

Scientists at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago say the same brain lesions that are associated with dementia in old age may be responsible for mild memory loss.

The researchers studied 350 Catholic nuns, priests, and brothers who were given memory tests annually for up to 13 years, and after death, had their brains examined for lesions.

The study found that memory decline tended to be gradual before speeding up in the last four or five years of life.

Researchers say they found that strokes as well as protein accumulations called tangles and Lewy bodies seemed to be related to memory loss in older people.

They report that minimal gradual memory declines were seen in the absence of tangles, while Lewy bodies and strokes doubled the rate of gradual memory loss.

Tangles and Lewy bodies were found to be associated with rapid memory decline but explained only about a third of the memory loss.

“It appears these brain lesions have a much greater impact on memory function in old age than we previously thought,” study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD, of the Rush University Medical Center, says in a news release. “Our results challenge the concept of normal memory aging and hint at the possibility that these lesions play a role in virtually all late-life memory loss.”

The subjects, for up to 13 years, had memory tests that involved word recall, naming, verbal, number, and reading assignments, and all had agreed to autopsies so that their brains could be studied.

“Understanding how and when these brain lesions affect memory as we age will likely be critical to efforts to develop treatments that delay memory loss in old age,” Wilson says.

The researchers conclude that mild age-related declines in cognitive function are mainly the result of the lesions that traditionally are associated with dementia, but there are other causes as well.

They say their findings indicate that brain lesions associated with dementia are mainly responsible for gradual age-related cognitive decline that precedes dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders.

The lesions, they write, apparently “have a much greater impact on late-life cognitive functioning than previously recognized.”

The authors say that better understanding of individual differences of memory loss and early changes in the buildup of proteins may offer hope and new strategies for delaying the start of dementia’s symptoms.

The study is published in the Sept.15, 2010 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

SOURCES: Wilson, R. Neurology, Sept. 15, 2010.News release, American Academy of Neurology.

©2010 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Article URL - http://bit.ly/bhfTEo

( September 16, 2010 ) - Medical groups urge flu shots for pregnant women

WASHINGTON - Flu season may not sound as scary for pregnant women this year as last - but they’re still at high risk and need that shot, says a letter being mailed to thousands of health providers this week from some leading medical societies.Any kind of flu is risky during pregnancy, for mother and baby. But last year’s swine flu pandemic brought extra attention to the need for vaccination: Government data shows pregnant women account for only 1 percent of the population but represented 5 percent of swine flu deaths.

This year brings a return to the usual one-dose flu vaccine, which will protect against a return of that swine flu strain as well as two other flu types.

Women often are reluctant to take medications during their pregnancies and many obstetricians don’t offer flu vaccine in their own offices, preferring that their patients get it elsewhere.

Explain the importance of vaccination to pregnant woman and help them find a shot, says Wednesday’s letter to physicians and other health providers from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and eight other medical groups.

The only caveat is the type of vaccine: An influenza shot - the kind made with killed virus - is safe during any trimester of pregnancy, the letter stresses. Pregnant women aren’t supposed to receive the nasal spray vaccine FluMist, made with a live but weakened virus.

New moms, even if they’re breastfeeding, can choose either vaccine, the letter says.

And an extra benefit: Vaccinated “pregnant women pass on their immunity, protecting babies until they are old enough to receive their own vaccinations,” said Dr. Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes, who co-signed the letter.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Article URL - http://bit.ly/9XjKPn

( September 15, 2010 ) - AMA Supports New American Lung Association Report Showing Economic Benefits of Smoking Cessation Programs

Encourages states to implement evidence-based smoking cessation programsFor immediate release:
Sept. 14, 2010

Statement attributable to:
Barbara McAneny, MD
Board Member, American Medical Association

“The cost associated with treating tobacco-related illness in the United States is estimated at $96 billion. Smoking cessation programs have been shown to successfully help smokers quit - lowering the risk for smoking-related diseases and the high costs associated with treating them. The American Lung Association report clearly demonstrates the cost benefits to states that implement an evidenced-based comprehensive tobacco cessation program.

“According to this report, states could see a return of approximately $1.26 for every dollar spent. No other public health measure, including breast cancer or diabetes screening, sees the economic benefits of smoking cessation.

“The AMA remains committed to helping smokers quit. We are currently developing new online tools for physicians to help their patients quit smoking and educational resources on the dangers of secondhand smoke. We continue advocating for the passage of legislation to reduce tobacco’s toll. The AMA encourages state governments to implement smoking cessation programs to improve the health of their state’s economy and their residents.”

# # #

Contact:

Lisa Lecas
AMA Media Relations
312-464-5980

Article URL - http://bit.ly/cJ2xWG

( September 15, 2010 ) - Research Study To Establish Criteria For Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer’s Disease In Down Syndrome, Leading To Earlier Treatment

15 Sep 2010 — The Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (IBR), a vital branch of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) will play a key role in addressing crucial gaps in knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease in adults with Down syndrome through new research funded by an $8.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The grant, a continuation of an existing project, was awarded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Branch, and will support part of IBR’s Research Program on Aging; funding will be provided through May 31, 2015. This work will be done in close collaboration with scientists at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and Columbia University Medical Center, Manhattan. The directors of specific projects include Warren Zigman, PhD, Edmund Jenkins, PhD, and Sharon Krinsky-McHale, PhD, at IBR; Wayne Silverman, PhD, at the Kennedy Krieger Institute; and Nicole Schupf, PhD, DrPH, Benjamin Tycko, MD, PhD, and Joseph Lee, DrPH, at Columbia University.

“Since this program began in 1987, it has developed into one of the largest research efforts of its kind in the world,” said IBR Director W. Ted Brown, MD, PhD. “The findings may have direct implications for promoting more successful treatment and outcomes for adults with Down syndrome as they age.”

“Early signs of Alzheimer’s disease can be difficult to distinguish from the normal aging process in any older adult. For adults with Down syndrome, who are particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease, it is even more so,” said Brown. “Because effective intervention needs to begin as early in the disease process as possible, prior to the onset of the irreversible impacts on the brain that are characteristic of this devastating disease, early diagnosis is of critical importance.”

This program’s earlier studies showed that risk for dementia among adults with Down syndrome was lower than expected in their 30s and early 40s, but increased substantially thereafter, much as Alzheimer’s disease risk increases in the overall population from the late 60s onward. Earlier findings also revealed that some health-related factors influence whether a specific individual with Down syndrome will be at higher or lower risk. They also showed that risk of Alzheimer’s disease for adults with intellectual disability who do not have Down syndrome seems to be similar to what it is in the general population.

The work will now undertake a variety of projects to extend the understanding of the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease within the older population with Down syndrome to its earliest stage of clinical impact.

These projects will:

- Conduct studies to determine if risk for Alzheimer’s disease within the elderly population with Down syndrome might be associated with insulin resistance;

- Develop empirically validated methods for identifying the presence of mild cognitive impairment (state of mind impairment that is intermediate between declines associated with lifespan brain aging and the deficits that occur in conjunction with dementia) in adults with Down syndrome, differentiating this condition from cognitive changes associated with developmentally appropriate aging;

- Determine the role of basic biological mechanisms that underlie Alzheimer’s disease, including altered patterns of DNA methylation (a chemical modification in DNA) and other observed characteristics within this population, including aging-selected processes; and

- Ascertain the contribution of genetic variants that may influence cognitive function, risk for Alzheimer’s disease and age at onset of Alzheimer’s disease in adults with DS.

“This study will help us find out why dementia does not develop or is postponed in some individuals with Down syndrome, despite their higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease,” said Brown. “It also will establish how we can identify dementia in its earliest stages, possibly leading to earlier treatments.”

“Through this new study, IBR, together with two other renowned research organizations, will help OPWDD better support successful and improve care for adults with Down syndrome as they age and, perhaps, other individuals with developmental disabilities who are at risk for dementia,” said OPWDD Acting Commissioner Max E. Chmura.

About Down syndrome

Down syndrome is the most common and readily identifiable chromosomal conditions associated with intellectual disabilities. Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that occurs in approximately one in 800 live births. It is caused most often by an abnormality during cell division in gamete formation called nondysjunction. As a result, the fertilized egg will contain three copies of chromosome 21. The extra chromosome interferes with normal growth and development. Therefore, it is important for parents, health care professionals, and teachers to have a clear and accurate understanding of each child’s medical concerns and level of developmental functioning. In most cases, the diagnosis of Down syndrome is made according to results from a chromosome test administered shortly after birth. Although parents of any age may have a child with Down syndrome, the incidence is higher for women of advanced age (greater than 35 years).

Source:
OPWDD
IBR
——————————————————————————–

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/201050.php

( September 14, 2010 ) - Vitamin D May Improve Asthma Control

Study Links Vitamin D Deficiency and Asthma SeverityBy Denise Mann
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD

Sept 10, 2010 — Vitamin D is the new “it” vitamin. A number of studies link its deficiency to a host of medical conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Now, a new review article makes the case for vitamin D supplementation in the treatment of asthma. The findings appear in the September issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Researchers reviewed nearly 60 years’ worth of literature on vitamin D status and asthma. They found that vitamin D deficiency is linked to increased airway reactivity, lower lung functions, and worse asthma control. Risk factors for vitamin D deficiency include obesity, being African-American, and living in Westernized countries, the researchers report. These are also populations known to be at higher risk for developing asthma.

Vitamin D supplementation may improve asthma control by blocking the cascade of inflammation-causing proteins in the lung, as well as increasing production of the protein interleukin-10, which has anti-inflammatory effects, the study authors suggest.

Vitamin D is often called “the sunshine vitamin” because our bodies make it when we are exposed to sunlight. Food sources include fish, eggs, and dairy products. It is also added to multivitamins and milk.

“The biggest issue is whether or not vitamin deficiency can be related to a worsening of asthma, and all the studies have been single-point in time studies, and the concern is that depending on where you live, you can be vitamin D-deficient in the winter, but not in the summer,” says Thomas B. Casale, MD, a professor of medicine and the chair of allergy and immunology at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. “We know that asthma gets worse in winter, when vitamin D is down,” he says.

More Research Warranted:
The next step is long-term trials that look at the effects of vitamin D supplementation in people with asthma, the study authors say.

“If we give supplemental vitamin D and measure asthma outcomes over a year, do you get better and that is the key,” he says. “There is a lot of circumstantial evidence, but we need to do definitive studies with vitamin D interventions to see what happens.”

Michael Holick, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine, physiology, and biophysics at the Boston University School of Medicine and the director of the Vitamin D, Skin, and Bone Research Laboratory there, thinks the jury is in regarding the role that vitamin D supplementation can and should play in treating and preventing asthma.

“This article provides strong evidence that vitamin D is altering the immune system and preventing asthma at a biochemical level,” he says.

“Winter is coming on and flu season is coming on, and that is all the more reason for parents to increase vitamin D in their children,” he says. “Recent studies suggest that it will reduce risk of wheezing disorders, including asthma,” he says.

The Institute of Medicine is considering whether to raise its guidelines for vitamin D intake. The current guidelines call for 200 IU/day.

Low Vitamin D Linked to Worse Asthma, More Steroids:
“Vitamin D … has effects on many immune cells and we are learning more and more about the impact that it can have on allergic diseases such as asthma,” says Pia Hauk, MD, an assistant professor of Pediatrics at National Jewish Health in Denver.

“If you have low vitamin D levels, your asthma may be worse and you may have to take more medication to control it,” she says. But “new research suggests that if we normalize vitamin D levels, you may need less medication to get control of the inflammation.”

This is important to many parents, she says.

“Many parents are very concerned about side effects of inhaled steroids and would be very happy to get away with less medication,” she says.

Hauk routinely tests vitamin D levels in her patients. “If it is low, I will put them on a supplement and check the levels again after three months,” she tells WebMD. “The next step is to conduct a study where people with asthma who have low levels of vitamin D are treated with supplements, and then study their lung function, steroid use, and asthma exacerbations once their vitamin D levels are normal,” she says.

These studies will provide definitive answers on the role that this vitamin has in asthma treatment, she says.

SOURCES: Thomas B. Casale, MD, professor of medicine; chair, allergy and immunology, Creighton University, Omaha.

Pia Hauk, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, National Jewish Health, Denver.

Michael Holick, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, physiology, and biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston.

Sandhu, M. Annals of Allergy and Asthma Immunology, 2010; vol 105: pp 191-199.

©2010 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Article URL - http://bit.ly/9pRj6k

( September 14, 2010 ) - Strong Grip May Mean Longer Life

Measures of Strength Predict Who Will Live LongerBy Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD

Sept. 10, 2010 — If your grip is strong and you’re able to raise from a chair quickly, walk fast, and balance on one leg, chances are you’ll live longer than people who have difficulty doing such things, says a study published in BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal.

Researchers in the United Kingdom say they’ve found that such signs of physical strength can be used to predict mortality in older people.

Scientists at University College London’s Medical Research Council say people who can perform such acts with relative ease are likely to live longer than their peers who are weaker and slower.

Death Risk Predictors
The study, performed by Rachel Cooper, PhD, and colleagues of University College London, examined data from 33 studies that measured physical capabilities.

Fourteen studies, including data on 53,476 people, dealt with grip strength, and researchers say the death rate among the weakest people was 1.67 times greater than among strongest participants, taking age, sex, and body size into account.

They also examined data from five studies covering 14,692 people. They found that the death rate among people who walked the slowest was 2.87 times greater than among peers who walked fastest.

And the death rate among people who took the longest times to rise from a chair was about twice that of peers who were fastest.

Strong Grip Aids Health
The association of grip strength with mortality not only held true for older people, but younger ones as well. Five studies that looked at grip strength had participants with an average age under 60.

“Objective measures of physical capability are predictors of all-cause mortality in older community dwelling populations,” the authors conclude. “Such measures may therefore provide useful tools for identifying older people at higher risk of death.”

The four tasks investigated by researchers are acts common in everyday living, and the tests might be used for screening purposes so that interventions can be targeted for weaker people.

All four markers could be used as signs of general health or of disease, the researchers say.

“Grip strength measured at younger ages also predicted mortality, but whether walking speed, chair rise time, and standing balance performance are associated with mortality in younger populations remains to be seen,” the authors conclude.

SOURCES: News release, BMJ.

Cooper, R. BMJ, publishedonline, Sept. 10, 2010.

©2010 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Article URL - http://bit.ly/9easj2

( September 13, 2010 ) - Americans Skimp on Fruits and Vegetables

The CDC Says More Needs to Be Done to Improve Access, Availability, and Affordability of Fruits, Vegetables

By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD

Sept. 9, 2010 — Americans aren’t eating nearly enough fruits and vegetables, the CDC says.

The percentage of Americans eating fruit two or more times every day and vegetables at least three times daily declined slightly compared to a decade ago, before health authorities began to sound the alarm about the nation’s obesity epidemic.

The CDC, in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for Sept. 10, said only 32.5% of adults in the U.S. ate fruit two or more times daily in 2009, and just over a quarter of Americans, 26.3%, ate vegetables three or more times per day.

The Healthy People 2010 objectives set by the CDC include goals that 75% of people age 2 and over eat two or more servings of fruit daily and 50% eat three or more servings of vegetables daily.

“The findings underscore the need for interventions at national, state, and community levels, across multiple settings to improve fruit and vegetable access, availability, and affordability as a means of increasing consumption,” the CDC says in the news report. “A diet high in fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk for many leading causes of death.”

A Look at the Numbers:
The new report analyzes data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing, state-based telephone survey of civilians in the U.S. aged 18 and over.

The CDC says no state met either of its targets. Washington, D.C., had the highest percentage of adults eating fruit twice or more per day, at 40.2%, and Oklahoma the lowest at 18.1%.

Tennessee had the highest percentage of adults eating the recommended amount of vegetables, at 33%, and South Dakota the lowest at 19.6%.

The CDC says overall prevalence of eating fruit two or more times daily decreased from 34.4% in 2000 to 32.5% in 2009. There was no significant change in vegetable consumption nationally.

The report also reveals characteristics about subgroups that are showing more improvement in reaching CDC goals. For example:

•36.1% of women compared to 28.7% of men ate fruit two or more times per day in 2009, and 30.9% of women compared to 21.4% of men ate vegetables at least three times daily.
•41.3% of people 65 and older ate the recommended portions of fruit, and 29% ate vegetables three or more times daily.
•36.9% of college graduates ate enough fruit, and 32.2% ate the recommended amount of vegetables.
•32.9% of people with annual household incomes of $50,000 or more ate the recommended amount of fruits, and 29.4% vegetables.
•Hispanics had the highest prevalence of fruit consumption at 37.2% but the lowest prevalence of vegetable consumption, 19.7%.
•36.9% of college graduates met fruit guidelines, and 32.2% ate the recommended amounts of vegetables.
The five states or areas with the highest percentages of people eating the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables are:

FRUIT

Washington, D.C. 40.2%

California 40.1%

Vermont (tie) 38.9%

New York (tie) 38.9%

Connecticut 37.6%

Maryland 36.9%

VEGETABLES

Tennessee 33%

Washington, D.C. 32.3%

Maine 30.6%

Oregon 30.5%

New Hampshire 30.4%

The five states with the lowest percentages of people eating the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables are:

FRUIT

Oklahoma 18.1%

Mississippi 22.9%

South Carolina 23.3%

Kansas 23.8%

Kentucky 24.4%

VEGETABLES

South Dakota 19.6%

Louisiana 21.3%

Mississippi 21.6%

Iowa 21.9%

West Virginia 22.1%

To read the CDC’s report, “Healthy People 2010: Objectives for Improving Health,” visit http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/pdf/volume2/19nutrition.pdf.

SOURCES: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol 59: pp 1125-1130.

©2010 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Article URL - http://bit.ly/9V3bSk

( September 13, 2010 ) - Function Found For Alzheimer’s Protein

13 Sep 2010 — In people with Alzheimer’s, the brain becomes riddled with clumps of protein, forming what are known as amyloid plaques. Now, a report appearing in the September 17th print issue of Cell appears to have found a function for the amyloid precursor protein (APP for short) that yields the prime ingredient in those plaques.

It turns out that APP is an iron oxidase whose job it is to convert iron from an unsafe form to a safe one for transport or storage. When APP fails to function properly, as it does in Alzheimer’s disease, iron levels inside neurons mount to toxic levels.

“This opens a big window on Alzheimer’s disease and iron metabolism,” said Ashley Bush of The Mental Health Research Institute, University of Melbourne.

“Although people have attributed several important physiological roles to APP,” added Jack Rogers of Harvard Medical School, “this now gives us an idea of what this critical protein does to underpin its role in iron metabolism.”

In fact, there were some clues. Some years ago, the researchers discovered that the RNA template for the APP protein includes an iron-responsive element. When iron levels rise, cells ramp up their APP production.

But amyloid in and of itself doesn’t really explain what goes wrong in the Alzheimer’s brain. “There has been a lot of attention on amyloid, but it seems it is not a simple matter of amyloid as the sole culprit,” Bush said. For one thing, trials of drugs designed to target and clear amyloid plaques haven’t worked as intended.

In fact, the disease is also complicated by high concentrations of metals, including iron that builds up inside neurons and zinc that accumulates within the amyloid plaques outside of those brain cells. And studies have also linked the loss of other iron oxidases to pathological iron accumulation and neurodegenerative diseases characterized by dementia. “If iron is left unbridled in its soluble form, it can cause nerve death and damage,” Rogers said.

After 10 years of work, it appears Bush’s and Roger’s teams have connected the dots from the abnormal exchange of zinc to amyloid pathology and iron accumulation in Alzheimer’s disease. “It’s a sequence of dominoes falling onto each other,” Bush said.

They show that APP is a bona fide iron oxidase, with properties much like the best-known iron oxidase (called ceruloplasmin), which is not expressed in neurons. Loss of APP in cells and primary neurons causes iron levels to build, while increasing APP promotes the export of iron out of cells.

Mice lacking APP become vulnerable to dietary iron, which causes the unsafe, oxidative form of iron to build in the animals’ neurons, they show. Finally, they show that zinc in amyloid blocks APP’s normal iron-balancing activities in the Alzheimer’s brain.

Based on the new evidence, the researchers propose that elevated iron in the Alzheimer’s brain summons further APP production. But that APP — generated for the purpose of exporting iron — gets disabled by high levels of zinc that dissociate from the amlyoid plaques.

The findings suggest that zinc may be an ideal target in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers say. In fact, studies in animals and early, short-term clinical trials of zinc-ionophore drugs including clioquinol and PBT2 in people with Alzheimer’s disease have so far produced promising results. PBT2 is slated for further testing.

“Our findings authenticate zinc as a target,” Bush said. “It really makes it look like an attractive place to hit.”

Although Rogers said that he doesn’t want to raise hopes for an Alzheimer’s cure too high, “this is definitely an important step in getting to a therapy to retard the Alzheimer’s disease process.”

Notes:
The researchers include James A. Duce, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Andrew Tsatsanis, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Michael A. Cater, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Simon A. James, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Elysia Robb, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Krutika Wikhe, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Su Ling Leong, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Keyla Perez, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Timothy Johanssen, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Mark A. Greenough, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Hyun-Hee Cho, Harvard Medical School; Denise Galatis, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Robert D. Moir, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA; Colin L. Masters, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Catriona McLean, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Rudolph E. Tanzi, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA; Roberto Cappai, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Kevin J. Barnham, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Giuseppe D. Ciccotosto, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Jack T. Rogers, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, Harvard Medical School; and Ashley I. Bush, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Source:
Cathleen Genova
Cell Press

Article URL: http://bit.ly/dxnni3

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