Caffeine may just combat Alzheimer's disease in the future. Researchers have found that caffeine actually has a positive effect on tau deposits, which are some of the characteristic features of the disease. The findings could give scientists a new line of study to pursue in their battle against Alzheimer's.
Tau deposits and beta-amyloid plaques are some of the features of Alzheimer's. They're protein deposits that disrupt communications between nerve cells in the brain, and can contribute to their degeneration. Yet it turns out that caffeine can block various receptors in the brain that are activated by adenosine. This blockade of the adenosine receptor subtype A2A could play an important role in combating Alzheimer's.
That's why the researchers developed an A2A antagonist that had fewer adverse effects than caffeine. The scientists then tested this antagonist in genetically altered mice. They found that the treated animals achieved significantly better results on memory tests than animals that had received a placebo.
"We have taken a good step forward," said Christa Muller, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The results of this study are truly promising, since we were able to show for the first time that A2A adenosine receptor antagonists actually have very positive effects in an animal model simulating hallmark characteristics and progression of the disease. And the adverse effects are minor."
The findings were published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
