Utafiti unaonyesha tiba mchanganyiko mpya ya misombo miwili inayotokana na mmea ili kubadili uharibifu wa utambuzi katika panya.
Angalau watu milioni 50 wanaishi nao Ugonjwa wa Alzheimer duniani kote. Jumla ya idadi ya wagonjwa wa ugonjwa wa Alzeima inaweza kuzidi milioni 152 ifikapo 2050. Dalili za kwanza za kuharibika kwa utambuzi katika wagonjwa wa Alzeima (AD) ni matatizo ya kumbukumbu na kuharibika kwa maamuzi. Ugonjwa unapoendelea, wagonjwa hupata hasara kubwa ya kumbukumbu na matatizo ya utambuzi. Hakuna tiba ya ugonjwa wa Alzeima na pia hakuna njia ya kuzuia au kupunguza kasi ya kuendelea kwa ugonjwa huu ugonjwa. Dawa chache na chaguzi zingine zinapatikana ambazo zinaweza kupunguza baadhi ya dalili. Katika ugonjwa wa Alzeima, alama za amiloidi hujilimbikiza kati ya niuroni katika ubongo wa wagonjwa. Katika watu wenye afya, protini fragments called amyloid beta protein are broken down and removed. But in case of Alzheimers, these fragments accumulate to form hard, insoluble amyloid plaques which contribute to impaired transmission of impulses across neurons and cause subsequent symptoms of Alzheimers ugonjwa huo.
Katika utafiti uliochapishwa katika Journal ya kemia ya kibaiolojia, watafiti wameonyesha kuwa mchanganyiko tiba could reverse symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in mice who were genetically predisposed to develop Alzheimers. Two promising plant-derived compounds were explored which have complimentary amyloidogenic properties, firstly EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) an important component of green tea and secondly FA (ferulic acid) which is present in tomatoes, rice, oats and carrots. Such natural dietary compounds are called ‘nutraceuticals’ – compounds which are well-tolerated natural supplements, have drug-like properties and could be simply incorporated into one’s diet.
Kwa uchambuzi, panya 32 wana Alzheimers like symptoms were randomly assigned into four groups. Each group had equal number of males and females and also healthy mice. When mice were 12 months old, they were given either (a) EGCG and FA (b) EGCG or FA or (c) a placebo once daily for a period of 3 months. The dosage given was 30 mg per kg of body weight as this dose is well-tolerated by humans and can be consumed as portion of a healthy dietary supplement. Before and after this special diet administration, researchers conducted neuropsychological tests which can analyze thinking and memory and thus make assessments about the disease. One of the tests done for memory assessment was the ‘Y-shaped maze’ which can test a mouse’s spatial working memory analogous to a human finding a way out of a building. Mice with Alzheimers like symptoms cannot navigate such a maze with ease as compared to healthy counterparts.
After administration of special diet for three months, mice having Alzheimers like symptoms performed similar to healthy mice in learning and memory tests. This suggested that combination therapy of EGCG-FA reverses cognitive impairment in mice having Alzheimers like symptoms. Mice treated with combination of EGCG-FA exhibited reduced abundance of amyloid-beta proteins when compared with individual treatment of these compounds. The underlying mechanism could be the ability of these compounds to prevent amyloid precursor proteins from breaking down into smaller protein fragments – amyloid beta – which accumulate in an Alzheimers patient’s brain as plaques. EGCG and FA together reduced neuroinflammation and oxidative stress in the brain – both of which are important part of Alzheimer’s in humans. Research which is successful in mice may not translate in humans but such plant-derived substances or supplements offer significant promise towards Alzheimer’s therapeutics in humans.
Utafiti huu wenye mafanikio katika panya unaweza kufungua njia kwa ajili ya majaribio ya binadamu. Dutu kama hizo zinazotokana na mimea au virutubisho hutoa ahadi kubwa kuelekea tiba ya Alzeima.
***
{Unaweza kusoma karatasi asili ya utafiti kwa kubofya kiungo cha DOI kilichotolewa hapa chini katika orodha ya (vyanzo) vilivyotajwa}
Chanzo (s)
Mori T et al. 2019. Matibabu ya pamoja na phenolics (-) -epigallocatechin-3-gallate na asidi ferulic huboresha utambuzi na kupunguza ugonjwa wa Alzeima katika panya. Journal ya kemia ya kibaiolojia. 294 (8). http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA118.004280
