BACE inhibitor successfully tested in Alzheimer's animal model

Here is a link to an article about progress made in finding a treatment for Alzheimer's.

An excerpt.
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"A successful treatment must take effect as early in the course of the disease as possible. In our experiments, we have therefore blocked the enzyme beta secretase BACE, which produces amyloid beta," explains Dr Marc Aurel Busche, young investigator group leader at the Institute for Neuroscience of the TUM and psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the TUM university hospital rechts der Isar.

The researchers tested a substance that inhibits beta secretase in a mouse model of Alzheimer's. The mice produce large amounts of amyloid beta, which, as in humans, leads to the formation of amyloid beta plaques in the brain and causes memory loss. During the study, the mice were given the inhibitor in their food for up to eight weeks, after which they were examined. For this purpose, the researchers used a special imaging technique known as two-photon microscopy, which allowed them to observe individual nerve cells in the brain.

As expected, the mice had less amyloid beta in their brain after this period, since its production was inhibited. However, the effect of the substance was much more far-reaching: the animals' brain functions actually normalized. There were fewer hyperactive nerve cells, and the slow-wave brain patterns once again resembled those in healthy mice. A key finding for the scientists was the observation that the animals' memory also improved. The mice were able to locate a hidden platform in a water-filled maze as quickly as their healthy counterparts.