Mouse Research Gives Treatment Hope for Alzheimer's

Mice, afflicated with the rodent equivalent of Alzheimer's disease, have demonstrated some remarkable improvements in memory even a year into their disease. A research team have been following up previous ideas about the role of an enzyme thought to be connected with Alzheimer's. The enzyme, known as Uch-L1, seems to be vital to a cell's ability to remove malformed proteins and maintain memory. When mice were given the enzyme their brain cells started to repair and, as a result, began getting rid of the amyloid beta proteins suspected of contributing to Alzheimer's disease.

At the moment the system requires injections and there is no way of knowing whether the results found in mice would replicate in humans. This is a very early stage in a process that may take years to refine and develop, but which is being considered as an important step in both the understanding of Alzheimer's and its possible treatment.

The full scientific paper is located here.