Green Tea and Red Wine may Reduce Alzheimer's Disease Brain Plaque
Using a 3D model of living human brain cells, Tufts researchers earlier this year showed that the common herpes virus could induce plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, affecting more than 6 million Americans, and its incidence is expected to rise in the coming decades.
‘Two common compounds, green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine reduced the formation of plaques in brain cells, with few or no side effects.’
The cause of the disease in its most common form, which is not genetically based, is not well understood. This makes treatment difficult, but progress is being made.
Natural Way to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease
Now, researchers are working to understand what might slow the progression of the disease. They tested 21 different compounds in Alzheimer's-afflicted neural cells in the lab, measuring the compounds' effect on the growth of sticky beta-amyloid plaques. These plaques develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.They found that two common compounds-green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine and other foods-reduced the formation of plaques in those nerve cells. The findings were reported in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Some of the 21 compounds tested reduced the disease progression by acting as anti-viral agents-slowing Alzheimer's induced by the herpes virus. But finding a compound that could diminish the plaques regardless of the virus component would be ideal.
The initial screening was done in simpler models, and compounds that had a positive effect were then tested in the 3D neural tissue model. That model is created using a nonreactive silk sponge seeded with human skin cells that, through genetic reprogramming, are converted into neural stem cell progenitors.
The initial screen found five compounds had robust prevention of these plaques. In addition to the green tea compounds and resveratrol, they found curcumin from turmeric, the diabetic medication Metformin, and a compound called citicoline that prevented plaques from forming and did not have anti-viral effects.
Drink Green Tea and Red Wine to Stay Away from Alzheimer's Disease
Green tea catechins are molecules in the tea leaves that have an antioxidant effect and have been explored as a potential treatment for cancers, and resveratrol has been tested for anti-aging properties.Some compounds do not cross the blood-brain barrier, which would be essential in the case of Alzheimer's, and some have low bioavailability, meaning they are not readily absorbed into the body or bloodstream.
Still, the discovery is significant because there is no cure for Alzheimer's or a way to prevent its progression, aside from several potential drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies that are still in trials.
Looking ahead, a potential area of research for researchers and pharmaceutical companies would be to take the beneficial properties of these compounds and try to enhance them to make them more bioavailable or make them penetrate the blood-brain barrier a bit better.
Source: Eurekalert