Researchers found that all of the brains of dementia patients showed quinolinic acid neurotoxicity. This acid kills nerve cells in the brain, leading to brain dysfunction and ultimately death.
The discovery is significant because opens up the potential of a number of other drugs that are in the advanced developmental phase for other conditions, which would have previously not been considered relevant to the disease, as candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer’s patients. At present, there are only minimally effective treatments for the condition.
“There are several drugs which can block this pathway, which are already under investigation by our laboratory and others,” said Dr Gillles Guillemin who is based at the Centre for Immunology at St Vincent’s Hospital and lead author of the research.
“While we won’t be able to prevent people from getting Alzheimer’s disease, we may eventually, with the use of drugs, be able to slow down the progression,” concluded Alzheimer’s researcher, Dr Karen Cullen from the University of Sydney.