photo credit: Zeusandhera
A recent article on NutraIngredients-USA.com, “Nutrition to halt Alzheimer’s gets boost - in fruit flies,” reported on a U.S. study conducted with fruit flies. The study gives hope that Alzheimer’s and dementia treatment may soon be fought with a two-pronged attack of diet and nutrition.
Lead author of the report on the study, Dora Dias-Santagata, was quoted as saying, “This is exciting because antioxidants may prove to be a good therapeutic approach to [prevent] Alzheimer’s disease and ameliorate human neurodegeneration.”
The report provides more evidence that Alzheimer’s is caused by a build-up of plaque resulting from protein deposits in the brain, causing cell damage and death through oxidative stress.
So where do the fruit flies come in?
Researchers reported that through genetic manipulation in the brains of fruit flies, they were able to monitor the activity of anti-oxidant proteins, basically increasing and then reducing the neurodegeneration effects with administration of Vitamin E.
Through this research, scientists were able to say that oxidative stress, or the cell degeneration that causes apples to brown and iron to rust, is probably a factor in Alzheimer’s disease and brain degeneration. The potent anti-oxidant, Vitamin E, reduced the effects of oxidative stress in the brains of the fruit flies.
Researchers’ next steps will include determining whether these findings translate from fruit fly brains to human brains. To read more takes on this study, titled “Oxidative stress mediates tau-induced neurodegeneration in Drosophila,” search The Journal of Clinical Investigation, visit the following links:
Daily BioMed
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