Biology professor Hey-Kyoung Lee (right) works in the lab to block an enzyme in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Nicotine has long been singled out as harmful and addictive, and people across the world try to shake it off. But new findings from university researchers might leave some people thinking twice before kicking the habit.
Biology professor Hey-Kyoung Lee and her research team have spent more than a year trying to block a specific enzyme in the brain that has been linked to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
First they tried to simply eliminate that enzyme, which Lee said helps make sure the brain properly releases its neurotransmitters.
The effects of that, she said, were as bad as Alzheimer’s itself. So now they’re giving the brain nicotine instead.
Nicotine helped boost calcium levels in the brain when Lee and her fellow researchers tested it on mice, helping to restore their normal brain functions.
Other drugs already under development inhibit this troublesome “BACE1” enzyme, Lee said, but they have harmful side effects. Her treatment would combine nicotine and the other drug, reducing those side effects.
Alzheimer’s treatments available to patients today focus only on reducing and slowing the disease’s symptoms, which include memory loss and schizophrenic behavior.
“We could stop the disease in its tracks for no further damage to the brain,” Lee said of her potential treatment combination. “If the nicotine can overcome the BACE1 knockout behavior, I’m confident it will be a successful treatment.”
Senior neurobiology and psychology major Angela Lee, a co-author of the study, said time and further research will tell if this is the treatment Alzheimer’s patients have been looking for.
“It’s hard to imagine it translating into humans right now,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of potential for it, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done.”
Part of nicotine’s strong potential comes in its existing accessibility to consumers through patches, pills, gum and even cigarettes, Lee said.
“The advantage we found in using nicotine is that it’s a drug already being used by people for various reasons,” she said.
Lee said that because the amount of nicotine given to mice in the experiments was much higher than the levels in a cigarette, further research needs to be done to determine if people can simply light up to help treat the disease.
This treatment does bring the potential for nicotine addiction, but Lee said its potential benefits for Alzheimer’s patients outweigh the risks of addiction.
“It’s not as devastating as becoming schizophrenic,” Lee said, adding that nicotine isn’t as bad as other addictive drugs.
Lee said her team will continue to research the effects of nicotine treatment and try to minimize the risks for addiction. She said she hopes that after the behavioral trials with mice end about a year from now, the treatment will be picked up by other research teams for clinical trials with humans.
saravia at umdbk dot com
