Skin cancer drug 'clears Alzheimer's protein from the brain'

DAILY MAIL REPORTER
10th February 2012

People with Alzheimer's see a build up of amyloid plaques between the nerve cells in the brain. These were cleared in mice thanks to a skin cancer drug
A skin cancer drug could prove to be a precious weapon in the fight against Alzheimer’s.

In tests, bexarotene rapidly improved brain health, memory and behaviour of mice genetically engineered to develop the disease.

Researchers described the effect as unprecedented and ‘tremendously exciting’.
But others cautioned against raising hopes, pointing out that what works in laboratory mice doesn’t always work in humans.

The researchers, from Cape Western Reserve University in the U.S., used bexarotene to break down amyloid, the toxic protein that clogs the brain of Alzheimer’s patients.

Within just six hours of giving the drug to the mice, levels of one type of amyloid fell by a quarter, according to the study detailed in the journal Science.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2098893/Skin-cancer-drug-clears-Alzheimers-protein-brain.html#ixzz1lwTfQGBg