bbb bace

BBB BACE

faculty.washington.edu

bbb for those not in the medical field
means blood brain barrier
its a protective barrier that keeps drugs medicines
viruses bacteria parasites and chemicals from reaching
the brain and causing havoc

a protective mechanism that has evolved to protect the brain

it also prevents however medicines sometimes from reaching
the brain that may be helpful eg in preventing and treating
alzheimers disease

in a study at the university of pennsylvania they used ctb (cholera toxin b)
that easily goes across the bbb
they then attached mbp (myelin basic protein) to the ctb
mbp degrades beta amyloid

they then attached fluorescence to the ctb-mbp and the
mbp appeared in the brain as seen by the fluorescence in the brain
and the level of that awful beta amyloid that is thought to be the
cause of alzheimers as it accumulates or the end result of
whatever the process is that causes alzheimers
went down as the mbp degraded the beta amyloid

so you could take a chemical that treats alzheimers and
attach it to ctb
give it to a patient by mouth
the drug would then cross the bbb and slow down the production
of the amyloid that may cause alzheimers disease

this was done in rats of course
next stop hopefully is humans


bace is the abbreviation for beta site app cleaving enzyme
the bace enzyme breaks off the protein that may be the culprit
in alzheimers disease
the beta amyloid protein
people who have a defect or mutation in the gene that makes
bace
have a lower instance of alzheimers disease

in comes the drug companies
they have made eg merk a compound called mk-8931
that inhibits this bace enzyme

its an oral drug that has already gone through phase 1 studies
and is now entering phase 2 and phase 3 studies in patients
with mild to moderate alzheimers disease
the drug will lower the levels of beta amyloid in the brain and hopefully
by doing this will slow down or prevent alzheimers disease
thats the theory

now the mk-8931 will be used in prodromal or prealzheimers or
amnestic mild cognitive impairment in patients who may have
a positive beta amyloid pet scan and abnormal levels of beta
amyloid in the spinal fluids
two positive tests that are seen in alzheimers disease

hum that sounds familiar
oh wait thats me
i have all those things except i dont have my beta amyloid pet scan
yet but i will soon
the thinking is to attack this early on in the  process before
things get worse

if i qualify for this study then i would take this mk-8931 for a
period of time and they would follow cognitive tests and spinal
fluid levels of beta amyloid and pet scans of the brain for
beta amyloid
or
i would be in the placebo group
that would suck wouldnt it to be in the placebo group


there is progress being made it seems
there is this light in the end of the tunnel that is faint
but its starting to get a little brighter




the organicgreen doctor

penny for your thoughts

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

it use to be aluminum
they thought
that caused it
now
they think that it may be copper
too much of it

we get copper naturally in red meat shell fish some vegetables
and fruits and multivitamins and from copper water lines
and i guess if you chew on pennies you can get too much
copper

copper is necessary to maintain the bodys health
too much may cause problems
it helps with nerve conduction and the metabolism of iron
not enough copper can lead to immunity and bone problems
like anemia and osteoporosis
too much can lead to kidney disease and intestinal disease

now a study has found that maybe just the trace amounts we
get now may contribute to alzheimers disease

as this copper accumulates if you get too much
it builds up in the vessels in the brain
and it affects the blood brain barrier
that barrier that keeps things out of the brain cells that doesnt
need to be there
it is the protector of the brain
this blood brain barrier

since the blood brain barrier is affected by the accumulation of
copper that bad old protein beta amyloid starts to accumulate
in the brain which is thought to be the culprit in alzheimers disease

they even have a new drug that works by removing copper from the
brain and by doing so may prevent alzheimers or treat it
its under study now
maybe
time will tell


of course these new studies were done on mice
so now studies will need to be done in humans to see if
this really applies to us

of mice and men
sometimes they arent the same

maybe this time though they are

the organicgreen doctor