Scientists 'narrowing search for incurable brain disease treatment'RSS Feed

A new trial, which examined more than 10,000 chemical compounds during the last year, has come close to identifying a substance which could rectify the brain injury seen in a group of untreatable brain diseases.

Research published in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry said that brain conditions, including mad cow disease in animals and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans, are the consequence of deposits of abnormal prion protein in the brain and are always fatal.

However, the scientists narrowed their search to a few of the most promising before synthesizing new variations of the compounds, known as aminothiazoles.

The new compounds were seen to reach high concentrations in the brain in mice when consumed orally, lessening the amount of the abnormal protein in the brain.

Meanwhile, scientists at Lund University have found that the brain injury that occurs during a stroke could be rectified up to two days after the event by stimulating a protein in the brain known as the sigma-1 receptor.

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Posted by Matthew Heap
 

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