Do you like strawberries and cucumbers? What about other fruits and vegetables? These foods aren't just good for your health. Scientists have now found that they possess a chemical that appears to stop the memory loss that accompanies Alzheimer's disease-at least where mice are concerned. The findings could be huge when it comes to developing treatments for this disease.
The chemical in question is a flavonol called fisetin. Flavonols are a class of flavonoids, which have a wide range of biological and pharmacological effects. More than a decade ago, the researchers found that fisetin actually helps protect neurons in the brain from the effects of aging. Since then, the scientists have probed how the compound has both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on cells in the brain.
"We had already shown that in normal animals, fisetin can improve memory," said Pamela Maher, one of the researchers, in a news release. "What we showed here is that it also can have an effect on animals prone to Alzheimer's."
In this case, the researchers tested a strain of mice that had mutations in two genes linked to Alxheimer's disease. When only three months old, the mice were exposed to fisetin in their food sources. The researchers then tested the mice as they aged, examining their memory and learning skills with water mazes. While those that didn't receive fisetin began performing more poorly in the mazes, those that had received fisetin performed as well as normal mice.
So how does this work? It turns out that the fisetin dampened the pathways involved in cellular inflammation. In addition, anti-inflammatory molecules were present in the brains of mice that had taken fisetin. One protein in particular, known as p35, was blocked from being cleaved into a shorter version when fisetin was taken.
"It may be that compounds like this that have more than one target are most effective at treating Alzheimer's disease," said Maher in a news release. "Because it's a complex disease where there are a lot of things going wrong."
Currently, the researchers plan to conduct new studies to see how the timing of fisetin doses affect Alzheimer's. Yet this latest study reveals how this compound might be the key to helping treat the disease.
The findings are published in the journal Aging Cell.
