New Anti-Alzheimer's Compound Reverses Memory Decline in Mice

A study in Redox Biology showed that a drug candidate that previously demonstrated the ability to slow aging in brain cells reversed memory loss in a mouse model of inherited Alzheimer's disease, reports Technology Networks . Developed by the Salk Institute, the CMS121 compound changes brain cells' metabolization of lipid molecules. A subset of the mice in the study were given daily doses of CMS121 beginning at nine months old — comparable to middle age in humans — after they had already started to exhibit learning and memory problems. Three months later, both treated and untreated mice were given memory and behavior tests, in which those with Alzheimer's-like pathology receiving CMS121 performed as well as healthy controls, while untreated animals with the disease performed worse. The researchers also noticed that mice with Alzheimer's-like disease had more lipid peroxidation than either healthy mice or those treated with CMS121. "That not only confirmed that lipid peroxidation is altered in Alzheimer's, but that this drug is actually normalizing those changes," said Salk's Gamze Ates. The drug also reduced concentrations of fatty acid synthetase (FASN), which in turn lowered levels of lipid peroxidation. Analysis of FASN in brain samples from humans who had died of Alzheimer's revealed higher amounts of the FASN protein than similarly aged controls who were cognitively healthy, suggesting FASN could be a drug target for treating Alzheimer's.