Controlling the level of a fatty acid in the brain could help treat Alzheimer’s disease, a study suggests.
Scientists from Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of California looked at fatty acids in the brains of normal mice and compared them with those in mice genetically engineered to have an Alzheimer’s-like condition.
They identified raised levels of a fatty acid called arachidonic acid in the brains of the Alzheimer’s mice. The release of this acid is controlled by the PLA2 enzyme.
The scientists again used genetic engineering to lower PLA2 levels in the animals, and found that even a partial reduction halted memory deterioration and other impairments.
Source: BBC News, 19 October 2008
Chapter: Alzheimer's Disease :: 7 November 2008
