Both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases can affect the brain due to the progressive degeneration of a patient’s neurons. When that happens, the usual side effects are a loss of memory, speech and thinking.
According to the BrightFocus Foundation, ‘More than 5.8 million Americans now have Alzheimer’s disease.’ And they also go on to share that by 2050, that number could grow up to nearly 14 million. Meanwhile, Parkinson’s affects at least 10 million people worldwide, with at least one million living within the United States.
One of the biggest hindrances for both of these degenerative diseases is that medication or other types of treatments and remedies only work to suppress the symptoms, rather than being able to get to the root of the disease, which is to stop the actual process of neurodegeneration.
But Russian scientists have combined particular chemical compounds that can actually stop the degeneration of neurons in both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as other severe brain pathologies.
What the scientists have discovered are ‘new molecules of pyrrolyl – and indolylazine classes activate intracellular mechanisms to combat one of the main causes of “aged” brain diseases – an excess of so-called amyloid structures that accumulate in the human brain with age.’
The study, which was published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, had experts from a number of different institutes joining in, including chemists from the Ural Federal University.
Professor Irina Utepova of the Department of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry at UrFU, who also co-authored the study, shared, “Our compounds activate the synthesis of specific heat shock proteins and cause their accumulation in the cell.”
She added, “Proteins of this type make it possible to protect neuronal tissue for an excess of toxic amyloids and to protect cells from various types of stress, including proteotoxic stress characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases.”
The study also showed that the notable ‘advantages of compounds from the series of pyrrolyl – and indolylazine classes are a profitable synthesis technology and low toxicity.’
The research group managed to get compounds to test in the cellular models of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as in secondary injuries of those that suffered from a traumatic brain injury.
For both of these cases, the new substances exhibited a substantial therapeutic effect, which increased the survival of neuronal cells. The most effective compound was also tested in the living tissues of rats that had secondary injuries after traumatic brain injuries.
What the scientists observed was that the use of pyrrolylazine during rehabilitation therapy managed to lessen the appearance of ‘movement disorders and degeneration of hippocampal neurons’ in the animals.
The research team that joined the study included a number of different experts from the Ural Federal University, the Institute of Organic Synthesis of Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They have continued to study the effects of ‘the mechanism of action of new compounds’ while going into their final preparation for the preclinical testing.
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