A compound inside the popular ingredients has been turned into a new treatment that might reverse Alzheimer’s Disease
Two kitchen cupboard staples might reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease, a study has found. Scientists have begun to develop a new treatment for the condition using a compound contained in rosemary and sage.
Carnosic acid is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound that works by activating enzymes that make up the body’s natural defence system. While pure carnosic acid is too unstable to be used as a drug, scientists have now synthesised it in a stable form.
This compound is fully converted to carnosic acid in the gut before being absorbed into the bloodstream. The experts from Scripps Research Institute in Calaforniasay their treatment was found to significantly lower the inflammation in the brains of mice.
Brain inflammation is known to be linked with Alzheimer’s Disease. As far back as 2012, research funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK revealed that a mutation in a gene called TREM2 could increase the risk of Alzheimer’s.
As the TREM2 gene makes a protein heavily involved in regulating the brain’s inflammatory response, scientists suggested that inflammation might in fact play a role in the very initial stages of Alzheimer’s. For more than a decade scientists across the world have been looking to further develop their understanding of the findings.
Now, in a new study, the team from Scripps have developed a drug using carsonic acid – diAcCA – which cleared the inflammation. And in potentially even better news, it also restored some of the brain’s nerve cell connections that help learning and memory.
The team concluded: “Collectively, these findings underscore the promise of diAcCA as a potential therapeutic for human Alzheimer’s Disease.” While the trials have been done in mice the compound is considered safe for humans which means the team is calling for testing on people to be “expedited”.
NHS figures show there are more than 944,000 people in the UK who have some form of dementia. One in 11 people over the age of 65 have dementia in the UK.
The number is increasing because people are living longer. It is estimated that by 2030, the number of people with dementia in the UK will be more than 1 million.
And according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures “dementia and Alzheimer’s disease” were the leading cause of death in the UK in 2022. Collectively they accounted for 65,967 deaths (11.4% of the total), up from 61,250 (10.4%) in 2021.
But the Scripps team is hopeful the new drug will not only save lives but improve them. And it is hoped the drug will not have any major side-effects.
The study, published in Antioxidants, explained how it had previously been difficult to use carsonic acid as a drug or supplement because of the instability of the compound. However the team had created a derivative of it which could reach the gut before breaking down.
They said this meant the mice absorbed 20% more carsonic acid that they would have done by trying to ingest it in it pure form. It also meant more of the compound was able to pass through the blood-brain barrier and treat the brain inflammation.
Senior author and professor Stuart Lipton said the team treated the mice with the compound over the course of three months. The group examined the mice by testing their spatial learning and memory in behavioural tests and then analysing brain tissue under the microscope.
He said: “We did multiple different tests of memory, and they were all improved with the drug. And it didn’t just slow down the decline; it improved virtually back to normal.”
In addition to reducing the inflammation in the brain the scientists found it even “soothed baseline inflammation in the oesophagus and stomach as it was converted to carnosic acid”. Prof Lipton sees a potential for diAcCA to work in tandem with Alzheimer’s treatments currently on the market.
He also hoped diAcCA can be fast-tracked through clinical trials because of its safety profile. He thinks it could also be explored as a treatment for other disorders marked by inflammation, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other forms of neurodegeneration such as Parkinson’s disease.
