Researchers at the University of Arizona are investigating the role of cholesterol as a therapeutic focus for Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes. Alzheimer's disease affects more than 5.5 million people in the United States and a known cure has yet to be discovered. Their study is published in the journal ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science.
"Alzheimer's and diabetes share many common causes," said Gregory Thatcher, Ph.D., professor at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy and the newly named R. Ken and Donna Coit Endowed Chair in Drug Discovery. "Our goal was to develop a way of identifying compounds that would counteract many detrimental changes that contribute to both Alzheimer's and Type 2 diabetes."
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is one of the proteins involved in reverse cholesterol transport. APOE is one of the strongest risk factor genes for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, and an independent risk factor for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Similarly, reduced activity of another cholesterol transporter, ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), correlates with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
"While most people are aware of so-called 'good cholesterol,' and 'bad cholesterol,' associated with risk of heart attack and stroke, these broad concepts are also applicable to a healthy brain," said Dr. Thatcher, who has been working to develop advanced therapeutics for Alzheimer's for more than 20 years. "Moving cholesterol to where it is needed in the body has positive effects on many physiological processes and can help clear misfolded proteins that accumulate in the brain."
Image credit: Diabetesmagazijn.nl