Breathe easy — researchers say they may have found an innovative approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease.
There is no cure for this brain disorder, which affects more than 6 million Americans. Progress in treatment has been slow because scientists do not fully understand the causes of this complex disease.
Researchers are now focusing on xenon, a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that exhibits protective effects on the brain when inhaled by mice. A clinical trial at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston is expected to begin in the coming months.
“One of the main limitations in Alzheimer’s research and treatment is that it is extremely difficult to design drugs that can cross the blood-brain barrier – but xenon gas does. We look forward to seeing this new approach tested in humans,” said study lead author and co-correspondent Oleg Butovsky, a neuroscientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Xenon is used in photographic flashes, medical imaging, nuclear power plants, anesthesia and even by mountaineers climbing Mount Everest because it promotes the production of red blood cells.
Butovsky’s study, published Wednesday, showed that mice with Alzheimer’s disease that inhaled xenon in a custom chamber had milder brain inflammation, less brain cell loss and better cognitive function when building their nests.
The key is that the gas triggered and increased a protective response from the mice’s microglia, the brain’s primary and most important immune cells.
Microglia are essential for the proper functioning of the brain: they deal with potential threats such as infections, injuries and cellular debris.
Microglial dysfunction is a critical component of Alzheimer’s disease, the study authors said, because defective microglia contribute significantly to the brain inflammation and accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques characteristic of the disease. .
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia: it causes memory loss, confusion, problems thinking and changes in behavior.
Butovsky’s findings were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
His team is considering ways to use xenon gas more effectively and exploring its potential to alleviate multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease and eye conditions involving neuron loss.
“If the clinical trial goes well, the opportunities for using xenon gas are great,” said study co-author Dr. Howard Weiner, principal investigator of the upcoming trial. “This could open the door to new treatments to help patients with neurological diseases.”
