Alzheimer's treatment on horizon following successful lab tests

British scientists have made a breakthrough in the hunt for a drug that will successfully treat Alzheimer's disease. A new compound has been found to halt the progress of brain cell death during laboratory testing on mice. This could ultimately help define how future treatments for the neurodegenerative disease progress.

The compound was tested upon mice suffering from prion disease, which is the closest animal disorder to human neurodegenerative diseases. It was found that the compound was able to block a faulty signal within the brain that stops proteins being produced. 

A virus can affect a brain cell in such a way that it leads to viral proteins building up. Functioning brain cells then shut down all protein production in an attempt to stop the further spread of viral proteins. With neurodegenerative diseases, faulty proteins can lead to a similar response. 

The difference between viral cells and faulty cells is that the faulty proteins stay in the brain longer than a virus. This results in the brain cells effectively killing themselves by shutting themselves down for an extended period of time. The cells ultimately starve and die, which leads to the symptoms of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases as it is repeated throughout neurons within the brain. 

Scientists from the Medical Research Council's (MRC) toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester performed the study. Although the compound was tested in mice, the researchers have expressed confidence that it is highly likely the drug will create a similar response within human subjects. Currently it is not ready for human testing and has more development to undergo before it will be suitable. 

The study was published in the journal 'Science Translational Medicine' and details how the mice that had prion disease and were not treated with the compound developed problems with movement and memory and died within a 12-week period. In contrast, the mice that were treated with the compound displayed no symptoms of brain tissue death.

Professor Giovanna Mallucci, lead researcher, told the BBC: "They were absolutely fine, it was extraordinary. What's really exciting is a compound has completely prevented neurodegeneration and that's a first. This isn't the compound you would use in people, but it means we can do it and it's a start."