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HONOLULU, Dec. 18 - Researchers believe that a chemical called methionine plays a role in Alzheimer's disease and also could explain how vitamin E slows the progress of the disease in its later stages. The finding could lead to new drugs to delay the advance of Alzheimer's, say the researchers, who presented their study today during the 2000 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies.
The weeklong scientific meeting, held once every five years, is hosted by the American Chemical Society, in conjunction with its counterparts in Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
Alzheimer's is a chronic form of dementia that primarily strikes the elderly and causes severe memory loss and, eventually, death. The disease is characterized by the overproduction of a protein, beta-amyloid, that accumulates in the brain of its victims. Although normal brains contain beta-amyloid, those with the disease have comparatively large amounts. The protein is thought to produce chemicals called free radicals, which are toxic to the brain, according to the study's lead researcher, Allan Butterfield, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Membrane Sciences at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Butterfield examined the sequence of amino acids in beta-amyloid and found that one in particular - methionine - is the likely source of the toxic free radicals. He then modified methionine by substituting a sulfur atom with a carbon atom. In laboratory tests using rat brain cells, the modified version did not produce free radicals or kill brain cells, according to the researcher.
To determine whether the laboratory results could translate to living organisms, Butterfield joined forces with Christopher D. Link, Ph.D., a r
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Contact: Charmayne Marsh
y_marsh@acs.org
808-944-6381
American Chemical Society
17-Dec-2000