New Compound Combats the Metal Ions and Plaques Linked to Alzheimer's

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have developed a chemical compound that decreases amyloid plaque concentration and neuroinflammation, which play key roles in Alzheimer's disease, reports New Atlas . A study in ACS Chemical Neuroscience detailed the L1 compound's effectiveness. "L1 . . . interacts with different regions of the beta-amyloid peptide, as well as with metal ions," said UIUC's Liviu Mirica. "When tested in mice genetically predisposed to develop Alzheimer's-like pathologies, our compound could cross the blood-brain barrier, reduce neuroinflammation, and decrease the levels of amyloid plaques and of p-tau aggregates associated with these plaques." The researchers observed that a compound exhibiting this kind of effectiveness against these various factors related to Alzheimer's is atypical. They envision L1 becoming a leading candidate in the development of advanced treatments for the disease.