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O1–03–01: The role of dietary supplements and herbs in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease
Author(s) -
Massey Patrick
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2007.04.364
Subject(s) - dementia , dietary supplement , disease , medicine , alternative medicine , health care , cognition , gerontology , psychiatry , pathology , chemistry , food science , economics , economic growth
induced cognitive deficits and tau pathology. GSK3 inhibition blocked A oligomer-induced JNK and cognitive deficits in oligomer-infused rats. DHA reduced A accumulation in APP Tg mice by a novel mechanism involving APP sorting. APP Tg mice on the high n-6 diet have highly significant loss of the actin-regulatory dendritic spine protein, drebrin. We argue that oligomer-induced drebrin-related defects play a critical role in initiating cognitive deficits. AD clinical trial results found that DHA (as fish oil) had little impact on cognitive decline in established AD patients, but might have been effective at the earliest stages (MMSE 27). Major region-specific drebrin loss has been reported to begin in MCI with a sharp fall-off at very early stages of AD (MMSE 26) -without further progression. Conclusions: DHA can limit A production in vivo by a novel mechanism. Oligomer-induced dendritic spine loss is reflected in drebrin loss and should be a major target. Because it occurs very early, treatments that may mitigate oligomer-induced postsynaptic pathology, including DHA intervention, should begin very early, either in MCI or with primary prevention.