LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences research team has announced finding a new drug to potentially prevent Alzheimer’s in people who are genetically pre-disposed to the disease.
The team’s findings were published on Jan. 8 in the Communications Biology journal. The research included discoveries of a drug made by UAMS researcher Meenakshisundaram Balasubramaniam , the paper’s first author.
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The drug targets the so-called Alzheimer’s gene, present in about 50-65% of people affected by the disease. Researchers said the gene is inherited from one or both parents.
Lead researcher in the project, UAMS professor Sue Griffin , said the team that published this study was also the first in 2018 to show how that gene affected people by not allowing their brain cells to dispose of waste products.
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Griffin’s team is continuing its work with a recent five-year, $2.35 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The team will conduct larger-scale preclinical research on the drug candidate provided by Balasubramaniam as well as test other potential drug candidates.