Alzeihmer disease: inhibition of amyloid plaques?

[hitmankratos]

Hi everyone,

 

Ive heard that one reason of the Alzeihmer's disease is the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain. Ive also heard that - according to in vitro tests - some natural stuff such as garlic and cranberry could inhibit them.

 

I have 2 questions:

 

If someone just ate garlic for example, would it reach the brain and specifically the amyloid plaques automatically (would it pass the blool brain barrier (sorry if im completly off-topic).

 

If this works, would this help cure alzeihmer's disease or prevent it?

 

Thanks.

[hitmankratos]

Anyone?

[iNow]

Garlic won't cure it, or prevent it, but it could slow the deterioration.

 

Also, the garlic itself does not get into the brain. Instead, it's the constituent parts. If my brief scan of the literature is accurate, you need to look into the effects of a substance called S-allyl-Image -cysteine (SAC) and allixin, and their impact on amyloid β-protein.

 

 

 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-0102(03)00037-3

Aged garlic extract (AGE) contains several neuroactive compounds, including S-allyl-Image -cysteine (SAC) and allixin. We characterized cell death induced by amyloid β-protein (Aβ), 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), tunicamycin, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stressor, or trophic factor deprivation, and investigated whether and how SAC could prevent this in nerve growth factor (NGF)-differentiated PC12 cells, a model of neuronal cells. Exposure of the cells to amyloid β-protein1–40 (Aβ1–40) decreased the extent of [3-(4,5)-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) reduction activity and loss of neuronal integrity, but these effects were not prevented by Ac-DEVD-CHO, a caspase-3 inhibitor.

[GDG]

It is still not certain that amyloid plaques are the causative agents. Recent work at Genentech suggests that it may be the N-terminal part of the amyloid precursor protein that actually causes the damage (by its interaction with "death receptor 6").