The ruda chimica aspirin, salsalate, has potential in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study by scientists at the Gladstone Institutes at the University of California, San Francisco, published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Following the administration of sausages to a laboratory mouse with frontotemporal dementia, he regained his memory. The drug also protected the hippocampus, a part of the brain essential for memory formation. The drug appears to work by reducing the toxic buildup of “your” protein involved in Alzheimer’s disease, informs the Sandiego Unio Ttribune website.
In studying Alzheimer’s disease, most researchers have so far focused on the more famous relative of the protein “tau”, beta-amyloid, long the main suspect in this disease. In Alzheimer’s, both are abnormal forms of protein. When altered, they become toxic and damage neurons, leading to their death. Several drugs targeting beta-amyloid have reached the clinical stage of research, but none have been shown to be effective to date.
The new study found that salsalate inhibits a process called “acetylation”, which leads to toxic buildup in “your” proteins.
Salsalate is now being tested in several clinical trials, including one on another neurodegenerative disease related to the “tau” protein: progressive supranuclear palsy or PSP.
For now, no drug targeting “your” protein is available for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers said.
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