Researchers get closer to preventing Alzheimer's disease

An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and presently there are no known cures or effective preventive strategies.

“Alzheimer's Disease is a growing health concern that affects millions of people, “says Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “We hope our research provides direction for preventative treatments to delay the onset of AD dementia by eliminating amyloid plaque-causing peptides in the brain.”

People with AD exhibit elevated levels of beta-amyloid peptides that cause plaque buildup in the brain (the main characteristic of AD). In the earliest stages of Alzheimer's, beta-amyloid peptides are on the rise, especially in the two connected brain regions critical for memory functions– the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex.

In this study, Dr. Pasinetti and colleagues at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York suggests one reason for that early increase of beta-amyloid peptides: an enzyme that breaks down beta-amyloid peptides, also referred to as an insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), is not active in the brain in the cases at high-risk for developing AD. To assess possible changes in IDE during MCI, the investigators measured protein levels and enzymatic activity in postmortem brain tissue from 46 elderly subjects.