ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A new discovery out of the University of Virginia could be a major turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s is a disease that slowly robs people of their memories and their independence. With more than 7 million Americans living with the condition, and that number expected to nearly double in the next 25 years, researchers say this breakthrough offers real hope.
Inside UVA’s Department of Neuroscience, scientists have spent years trying to understand Alzheimer’s, and what’s really causing it. Their focus? A molecule called STING. It’s part of the brain’s immune response, designed to fight off threats. But when STING becomes overactive, researchers found it can actually damage the brain.
“We were curious if in aging and Alzheimer’s disease, if the immune response to the DNA which is the part of aging, was contributing to disfunction of the neurons involved in memory and what are underlying in Alzheimer’s,” said John Lukens, Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at UVA.
By blocking STING in mice, Dr. Lukens and his team were able to prevent memory loss and reduce those harmful buildups—giving scientists a promising new target for treatment.
“Using this memory test, the Morris Water Maze, the mice that had sting deletion that were in the Alzheimer’s disease background seemed to learn much better and also remember the location information much better than the mice that had the sting expressed,” said Jessica Thanos, PHD candidate at UVA Neuroscience Department.
For Thanos, it’s personal. Her grandmother had Alzheimer’s, and she’s seen the toll it takes.
Experts say Alzheimer’s starts developing in the brain 20 years before a person shows symptoms. And that early detection and prevention are what make this discovery so powerful.
“Our results show that it would be helpful to target this even early on as we age. Because in addition to damping down inflammation inside the brain it also dampens down inflammation outside the brain too. Things that contribute to cardiovascular disease as we age,” said Lukens.
Across Virginia, advocates with the Alzheimer’s Association say this kind of research could lead to a future where Alzheimer’s is no longer a devastating diagnosis.
“This is just another step in the right direction for us to see the words prevention, possible prevention of this disease, when we’ve only had healthy habits, that’s all we’ve had so far is any kind of tool or risk prevention for this disease,” said Brooke Gill, Alzheimer’s Association Region 14 Research Champion. “To see that there is something possibly on the horizon or to understand more about this disease is really exciting in the world of Alzheimer’s.”
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in 2020, 11.7% of adults over the age of 65 are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Right now, the treatment is still years away from human trials, but scientists say this is a promising development, and would likely lead to more affordable Alzheimer’s treatments when/if it becomes available.
There’s been great progress in Alzheimer’s treatments and research over the past few years, including in the past month as UVA scientists are calling for clinical trials testing the potential of HIV drugs to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, and the FDA recently cleared a blood test to diagnose the disease.
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